SMMUSD HDQTRS — The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District will dodge a bullet if the state is forced to pull the trigger on a round of hefty cuts to public education, but the district can’t keep it up for long.
That was the message delivered by district Chief Financial Officer Jan Maez to the Board of Education last Thursday, as she described another $3.2 million in cuts that seem likely to take place by Jan. 1, 2012.
The extra money is the district’s share of roughly $4 billion in additional funding that analysts predicted would land in state coffers in fiscal year 2011-12, Maez said.
Should that money fail to materialize, the legislature built in pre-approved cuts that get “triggered” at different levels.
Cuts to K-12 education will only happen if the state falls short by more than $2 billion, said H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the state Department of Finance.
“The extent to which those will be implemented is a function of two things,” Palmer said. “First is the revised forecast that our department will do, and the second is another one that will be done by the Legislative Analysts Office.”
The more optimistic of the two will be used to make the decision about cuts. The LAO’s report should be out within the next 10 to 14 days, and the Finance Department’s analysis is due no later than Dec. 15, Palmer said.
Should that trigger be pulled, however, cuts to education will be vast at the primary, secondary and higher education levels.
The first round of cuts, triggered if the state loses out on $1 billion in funding or more, will result in a $100 million cut to both the UC and CSU systems, as well as social services and public safety programs.
Those cuts will total $600 million.
The second round, triggered if the gap exceeds $2 billion, will include $1.5 billion from public education, another $72 million cut to community colleges and $248 million to school bus transportation.
That $1.5 billion equates to seven instructional days on top of the five-day reduction that has already been approved by the state, Palmer said.
The seven-day reduction is more of an example than a promise, particularly since any reduction in work, and consequently in pay, would have to be negotiated with the teacher’s union.
There are no furloughs planned into this year’s calendar, Maez said, and the district only provides bus services for Malibu and special education students.
With furlough days off the table, the district would be left to try to find $3 million to cut elsewhere.
Even if the cuts come, however, the Board of Education set aside $3 million in September when the district closed its books to bridge the gap left by what the state promised, and what it could actually deliver.
Although the district can skirt the cuts this time through prior planning, its pockets aren’t deep enough to keep spending at current levels and compensate for the state, Maez told board members Thursday.
“You can tell that a $19 million fund balance won’t last long,” Maez said.
It was a timely discussion, set against the backdrop of a larger conversation to follow that evening on local fundraising, and how parents and community organizations are working overtime to fill the void left by insufficient funding for public education at the state level.
The state has already cut public education by 19 percent over the last several years, leaving funding at 2005-06 levels, said Superintendent Sandra Lyon.
Although the district began the economic downturn with healthy reserves, they are dwindling, and there’s still a structural deficit to address, she said.
ashley@www.smdp.com