More cuts loom for schools district-wide
Students at local schools are feeling the pinch of tough economic times as officials this week shaved another $1.6 million from the education budget.
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified school board on Thursday reluctantly made the cuts not only because the state isn’t providing enough funding for education, but also because the majority of local voters shot down a parcel tax increase on Nov. 5 dedicated for Santa Monica and Malibu schools.
The school district already had to cut $5 million from its budget earlier this year because of its tumultuous economic situation.
The cuts, although currently broad and general, run the gamut. Students will see programs cut, and no new teachers or administrators hired. The following cuts account for the $1.6 million insavings: ■ Hiring freeze on all staff positions. Cost savings: $300,000. ■A 25 percent reduction in the budgets at all schools in the district. Cost savings: $198,000 ■A 25 percent cut in educational programs. Cost savings: $100,000. ■Elimination of security positions at elementary schools. Cost savings: $25,000. ■Freezing health services the district offers to poor students. Cost savings: $294,000. ■Combining special education positions. Cost savings: $219,000. ■Eliminating the costs associated with the district’s warehouse. Cost savings: $176,000. ■A 20 percent reduction in energy use. Cost savings: $298,000.
The school board also conditionally approved revenue generators for the district. Those include increasing bus fees to raise $238,000 and raising school lunches by 10 percent to raise $175,000. Renting school facilities will be more expensive as well, with the district hoping to bring in an additional $50,000 with the hikes.
The immediate budget cuts are necessary to balance the budget due to a precipitous decline in state funding of education, a substantial increase in health insurance and retirement benefits, and the defeat of a $300 parcel tax in the November elections.
Deficits are expected to rise next year to about $5.6 million, which again is blamed largely on state reductions in local education funding. To cope, the school board agreed administrators should begin looking at long-range cuts, including increasing class sizes and cutting more programs.
“We’ve got to submit our budget to L.A. County,” said board member Pam Brady. “Instead of making broad layoffs, instituting a hiring freeze feels a lot better to me.
“Instead of making broad layoffs, instituting a hiring freeze feels a lot better to me.” — — PAM BRADY SMMUSD board member
“They won’t be frozen forever,” she added. “Nothing is permanent here.”
Some members of the public asked the school board to provide more details. “”Where’s the data?” said Santa Monica resident Jim Jaffe, a Lincoln Middle School teacher. “This needs a surgical approach, not just an overview.”
“You can’t do it this way,” he added. “You’re not going to look good if you do it this way.”
But School Board President Julia Brownley said the school district will use discretion when deciding which positions should remain frozen and which, for academic reasons, need to be filled.
She said the cuts, though broad and somewhat ambiguous, need to be made now and followed up when more specific information is available.
“I know this is just the beginning of the journey of staff’s budget work,” she said. “Regrettably, there are more reductions in our future.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 23, 2002. Read the original PDF.