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# Local schools may close to cover budget deficit
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/local-schools-may-close-to-cover-budget-deficit/
- Published: 2002-12-20T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T01:09:11.000Z
- Author: Andrew Fixmer
- Tags: Education, Malibu, #archive-import

*Option is one of many superintendent proposes*

It’s come to this: Eviscerate academic programs and lay off more than 130 employees, or close school for two weeks.

That’s the choice Santa Monica-Malibu Unified District Superintendent John Deasy delivered to the school board Thursday in response to a proposed $3.4 million shortfall in state funding for local schools, which by law must be absorbed by June 30.

To cope with the funding loss, Deasy proposes that the school board file a waiver with the state board of education requesting that it be allowed to cut 10 days from the 180 days public schools that are mandated to stay open to qualify for state funding.

Deasy recommended that school should close for one week and then every Friday for five weeks.

By closing schools for two weeks this year, the district could save $3.1 million by not paying its employees. That way it could avoid laying off employees and eliminating non-mandated programs, like art and music.

It appears that even though the teacher and non-teacher unions haven’t seen a formal proposal for closing school, they reluctantly support the idea because it’s better than losing jobs, officials said.

Making budget cuts is becoming almost routine at the district as the state copes with its massive budget deficits.

Before the school year started, the district cut $2 million from its budget. Then after the failure of a proposed parcel tax increase at the ballot box on Nov. 5, it had to cut another $1.5 million.

Now Gov. Gray Davis is proposing to cut double the amount of funding for public schools, including Santa Monica, which now has few options left, Deasy said.

“It’s draconian, but you have to figure out how we cut,” Deasy said. “It’s an enormous amount to cut in such a short period of time, but we have no choice.”

Even though the mid-year budget cuts are bad, the worst news is yet to come, Deasy said. Closing school for 10 days will only get the district through this budget year. Next year’s budget situation is predicted to be far worse, Deasy said.

When Davis proposes his budget for the next fiscal year in January, Deasy said the school district will likely lose another $11 million in state funding on top of the reductions made this year.

And with the announcement this week that the state budget deficit has ballooned by another $7 billion, the outlook for public schools across the state looks more bleak each day, officials said.

That means by next school year, the district must find a way to do without at least $18 million in state funding, which comes to about 20 percent of the district’s $90 million budget.

“The state has fully abdicated its constitutional responsibility to public education,” Deasy said.

Without any increased funding, the school district would be forced to eliminate all administrators except for principals at each school, cut $1 million in special education and other contracted services.

The district also would have to decrease $1 million of general fund spending, reduce non-mandated programs by $1 million, eliminate 60 teaching positions and 60 other school district positions, and eliminate $1 million in programs and services, like extracurricular activities and sports programs.

“I get the sense most Californians don’t know what’s really about to hit them,” Deasy said. “And I think we have the same situation here in Santa Monica.”

> “I get the sense most Californians don’t know what’s really about to hit them. And I think we have the same situation here in Santa Monica.” — — JOHN DEASY SMMUSD Superintendent

Since the state is not willing to pay for educating its children, Deasy said it’s time to throw out the rule book and come up with some unorthodox solutions to the budget problems.

He said all state employees and offices should be closed and furloughed for two days this fiscal year, which would close the deficit. The county offices of education should de drastically down-sized, and the savings should be put back into local education, he said.

The state needs to place a moratorium on adding new components of its state testing program, Deasy said.

“I can’t see expanding state testing when we can’t even afford to keep the children in school to learn what they need to pass the state tests,” Deasy said.

Deasy also wants the state to allow school districts to increase elementary classroom sizes to roughly 24 children without losing state funding, which is predicated on schools keeping those numbers below 21 children in kindergarten to third grade classrooms.

Vehicle licensing taxes, reinstating the 9 and 10 percent income tax brackets and increasing taxes on alcohol and cigarettes should all be considered for raising money for schools, Deasy said.

The state also needs to suspend making local school districts pay the increased retirement fees into the state pension plan, CALPERS, and rolling back workers’ compensation benefits for at least one fiscal year.

But just to maintain the school district’s current programs and services, Deasy said a new parcel tax in Santa Monica will be required. A task force has been assembled to write a ballot initiative for a June 3 special election.

The new parcel tax will seek far less than the proposal that died in the November election. Property owners will be asked to pay $144 more annually and business may be asked to pay $675 more, whereas the past parcel tax asked every property owner to pay $300 more.

Under the new proposal, the school district would raise between $7 to $8 million annually for six years from taxpayers, while the past parcel tax would have raised more than $9 million annually for 12 years.

Even if the new parcel tax succeeds, the school district must raise another $3 million in revenue on its own, Deasy said. That means charging more in fees and collecting more in rent from properties the district leases out.

Santa Monica and Malibu, the two cities in the school district, would be asked to contribute more to the school district, Deasy said.

Currently, Santa Monica gives the school district $3 million and Malibu kicks in $270,000\. But those cities are facing budget problems of their own.

Assuming there are no more funding reductions, the parcel tax proposal passes and the cities donate more to the district, even then Deasy said the school district could only sustain the current proposed reductions for a few years.

“We could absorb this initially,” Deasy said. “But in no way will we be able to sustain this kind of reduced funding for a long time.”

“I get the sense most Californians don’t know what’s really about to hit them. And I think we have the same situation here in Santa Monica.” — John Deasy, SMMUSD Superintendent

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 20, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/122002.pdf?ref=smdp.com)