BHUSD Avoids Some Cuts to Special Ed

In a victory for special education students, the Beverly Hills Board of Education voted 4-1 at last week's board meeting to approve about $1.1 million of a recommended $1.7 million in cuts, sparing several of the special education teachers who administrators had recommended be laid off.

As , the board was told by its staff to make cuts to its $53 million budget to avoid deficit spending in the next fiscal year beginning July 1. Board members opted to cut less because the district will save money from anticipated teacher retirements and leaves of absence.

The board rejected many of the budget recommendations from Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Alex Cherniss. Earlier this month he suggested that the Beverly Hills Unified School District eliminate 16 staff positions, impose cuts to programs such as the middle school bands and counseling services, and reduce maintenance and operations costs.

Cherniss also said that a recent of the district’s special education department recommended about $1 million in cuts to the special education budget of $9 million. In response, board Vice President Brian Goldberg had suggested that the district consider $500,000 in cuts to the department.

Parents of special education students protested against the proposals.

“As a developmental pediatrician and a special ed parent, I can say with certainty that it is shortsighted to make these cuts," Horace Mann parent Anshu Batra told Patch. Batra spoke at the board meeting urging members not to implement the reductions.

She said that the special education budget is a natural target for cuts because "it costs more to provide specialized services for learning disabled individuals."

After four hours of discussion, the board voted to eliminate several district positions: two elementary school teachers, two K-8 counselors, two special education teachers and one special education program specialist. The BHUSD staff had recommended cutting five special education teachers and the program specialist.

"I am disappointed that cuts had to be made, but relieved that the cuts were not as great as what was originally projected," Batra said.

The board also cut six positions from the district’s custodial and maintenance staff, and voted to take $100,000 for technology spending from the Measure E bond fund. In total, the board cut $1.14 million from the general budget.

Myra Lurie, the one board member who voted against the final budget proposal, said she never favored cutting any special education teachers.

“I believe that our special ed students are most successful in a smaller class setting," Lurie told Patch. "The proposed cuts may have resulted in that vulnerable population of children having to learn in a more crowded classroom than their mainstream peers."

In addition to opposing the special education layoffs, Lurie also wanted the board to follow the staff recommendation of $1.7 million in cuts.

The planned personnel layoffs are tentative because the district will not receive its exact 2011-12 state funding for several months. All board members said they would restore staff positions if more funding comes through.

“We are trying to keep the budget cuts as far from the classroom as possible," board President Lisa Korbatov said during the meeting.