'Tough Decisions' Needed to Make Up $7.5 million SBUSD Budget Shortfall

South Bay Union School District’s (SBUSD) ever-shrinking budget is continuing to cause concern for parents and district employees alike.

Board members said at Thursday evening's meeting that a minimum $7.5 million needs to be cut from the 2011-12 budget.

Should an extension of current, temporary tax measures fail to be approved by voters during a special election in June, the district will lose an additional $2.6 million each year for the next five years.

Attended by approximately 150 district employees, parents and members of the community, the meeting kicked off with the unanimous passage of two declarations that could help the district financially.

One resolution called for the Legislature to put a revenue extension measure on the June ballot allowing voters the opportunity to vote to extend . 

A two-thirds vote is required in both the state Senate and Assembly for the measure to be put on the ballot, thanks to Proposition 26, approved by voters in the November election. If the tax extension plan does make it on the June ballot and is approved by voters, the revenue would be used to fund schools and a $12.5 billion state budget shortfall.

If the measure does not make it on the ballot or fails to pass with a majority vote in an election, statewide funding for schools would fall by “at least $2 billion,” said district officials. Locally, it would equate to an approximate annual reduction in funding of $335 for each student attending school within SBUSD, district officials said.

District nurse Chris Harris said that more cuts to nursing services could not be sustained.

“Many of you don’t know me because I spend all of my time running from school to school,” she said. Her concern was reiterated by another district employee who suggested “lives might be on the line” should nursing staff be reduced.

The proposed increase in class sizes, said SBUSD parent Elizabeth Dixon, whose son Daniel attends sixth grade at Mendoza, is also unacceptable.

“We have 25 students in each of our kindergarten classrooms right now,” Dixon said. 

“To add five more to each of those classrooms, there’s nowhere to put those five kids.  And considering many of these students’ first language is Spanish, when you need to have a teacher allocate additional time to likely five more of them, it’s hard because they don’t have any help in the classrooms.”

It was with heavy hearts, said SBUSD Assistant Superintendent Scott Buxbaum, that best-case and worst-case budget scenarios were brought before the board.

“We have a $7.5 million problem to deal with and that problem could get bigger,” Buxbaum said.

SBUSD Superintendent Carol Parish expressed similar concern.

“My biggest fear is that this is just the tip of the iceberg unless funding changes to education are made in California,” Parish said. “I feel angry, I feel discouraged, and I’m experiencing a sense of mourning over the losses of services the district will be able to provide.”  

The best-case scenario budget reduction, said the board, includes the modification of hours for office assistant positions, reductions in library services, reductions in custodial services, reductions in technology and information systems services and reductions in warehouse, purchasing and print shop services.

Worst-case scenario reductions would further eliminate 16 classroom teachers, one director of student achievement, one technology educational services liaison, one head and two eight-hour night custodians and one 3 ¾ hour instructional aid.

Board President Chris Brown and Board Trustee David Lopez said it was unfortunate the district was being forced to make tough decisions.

“I don’t want to vote for this but if we’re going to survive we have to try,” Brown said.  “I honestly feel nothing is written in stone, and maybe a miracle will happen and we won’t have to go through with this. It hurts. It really hurts.”

“The decisions we’re here to make tonight were really made a long time ago in Sacramento,” Lopez said. “These proposed cuts are most unbearable, but I think most of you know we have no choice.”

The second resolution to increase district funds called for the state to resume funding county mental health services for AB 3632 programs.

To increase Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties funds, a veto on Oct. 8, 2010, by then Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took approximately $133 million away from county education programs statewide previously allocated for things like mental health assessments, participation in due process hearings related to mental health services and interagency-contract related duties.

Federal law requires AB 3632 programs be funded pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Due to budget shortfall problems at the state level, the responsibility to fund them, said Schwarzenegger, needed to shift back to local school districts.  

Although County Mental Health Services agreed to continue to provide AB 3632 services to students in ongoing care, SBUSD estimates the suspension of the mandate cost the district $19,700 for the latter six months of the school year.