District: There’s plenty to go around
SMMUSD HDQTRS Teachers can buy those new pencil cases and protractors they’ve had their eyes on.
Just in time for a preliminary discussion set to take place tonight on the district’s 2007-08 budget, school officials received the good news they’ve been itching to hear for the past few months amid controversy over the resignation of the former chief financial officer.
Contrary to initial reports, it turns out that the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District won’t be in the red if the Board of Education ratifies a contract for a 5 percent salary increase with the teachers’ union.
An initial AB1200 financial report submitted to the Los Angeles County Office of Education in October showed that a 5 percent pay raise would empty out the district’s special reserve fund within three years. State law requires that school districts keep at least 3 percent of its general fund in special reserves.
But a report submitted to Superintendent Dianne Talarico on Feb. 8 by the Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) — created under AB1200 to assist school districts facing financial troubles — showed that SMMUSD will be able to maintain a 3 percent reserve fund level after all.
“I am really pleased that we had a third party independent review to substantiate what our thoughts were about the financial stability of the district,” Talarico said on Wednesday.“It helps that someone from the outside looked at it through an objective lens and validated our thinking.”
The news couldn’t have come at a better time for the school board, which came under fire at last week’s City Council meeting over a silence clause in a settlement agreement reached with former CFO Winston Braham. The clause, which was signed just weeks after Braham resigned in late November, sealed Braham’s lips on all matters related to district finances.
Rumors began to surface that Braham resigned because of a disagreement with the board over the 5 percent salary increase.
“The main thing is it puts to rest the issue of his resignation,” said School Board Vice President Oscar de la Torre on Wednesday. “It was not a financial matter at all.
“It was a personnel matter.” If Braham did resign over a personnel matter, the reasons behind his departure could remain a mystery, since such issues are protected under the law.
Last week, several City Council members requested that the two boards hold a joint meeting together with Braham to discuss the circumstances surrounding his throwing in the towel. Those discussions are no longer necessary, according to de la Torre.
“I think this report puts to rest the notion that our former chief financial officer was right and we were wrong,” de la Torre said.
So why all the fuss with the original AB1200?
“When he (Braham) did it, it was too preliminary,” de la Torre said. “It wasn’t all well thought out.”
In exactly one month, the Santa Monica- Malibu Classroom Teachers Association will finally get what it’s been waiting for all these years — the school board is expected to approve the contract.
“I’m very pleased to see the teachers will be receiving a much deserved and long overdue salary increase,” said Harry Keiley, president of the teachers association.
NEXT YEAR’S BUDGET A highly touted hire from the Glendale Unified School District, where he held the same title, the board’s new chief financial officer, Stephen Hodgson, is expected to introduce a series of talking points at tonight’s meeting on how to direct the budget formulation process for the 2007-08 school year.
Hodgson, who began work at SMMUSD on Feb. 1, was not available for comment on Tuesday.
“He outlines the process that he would like to take us through,” Talarico said. “It’s a process he has used in the past and wants to familiarize the board with it.”
In the discussion item report, Hodgson recommends several areas that the board should explore when developing the upcoming budget — review the district’s vision statement and a document guiding future budgetary decisions. The board should also accept that budget and staffing reductions will be necessary, and explore ways to lessen the financial impact of declining enrollment, which has been caused by the district’s moratorium on non-district residing students.
Also suggested in the discussion item is a three-year projection on budgetary matters.
“It’s never too early to start those conversations,” Talarico said.“We’re well within the traditional time frame for preparation.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 15, 2007. Read the original PDF.