PUSD Board Approves $254M Budget for 2011-12

The Poway Unified School District Board of Education has approved a $254 million budget for the coming school year that largely closes a $15.5 million budget gap by tapping district reserve funds.

The  budget was approved during Monday's board meeting, which also included several student recognitions and a change to Turtleback Elementary School's secondary-level boundaries. 

The budget approval, while helping the district meet legal deadlines, does not paint a final picture of local schools' fiscal future. Without a state budget—or set levels of attendance funding—officials relied on Gov. Jerry Brown's revised budget proposal from May to allocate funds.

A quick look at the PUSD budget:

• Reserves: $21.5 million—About $11 million is set aside, at the county's urging, in case state attendance funding is cut by $330 per student, possible unless the Legislature makes additional cuts or puts to a public vote Brown's desired tax extensions.
• Expenditures: $253.9 million—About 85 percent goes toward employee salaries and benefits. 
• Revenues: $240 million—Federal funding (about $8.6 million, less than half of what was received for 2010-11) will drop without stimulus dollars.

The district also has yet to settle a new contract with its classified employees union, Poway School Employees Association (PSEA), which could create additional costs or savings. Negotiations are ongoing.

Other notes:

• Starting in fall 2012,* students in Turtleback Elementary School's boundaries will feed into Bernardo Heights Middle and Rancho Bernardo High schools instead of Oak Valley Middle and Del Norte High schools. The current path through Oak Valley began in 2005 to help fill the new middle school. Now, students nearest those schools are projected to sustain the enrollment. 
  • Current Oak Valley and Del Norte students from the Turtleback area will need to fill out an Intra-district Transfer (IDT) form to remain in the school, as will their siblings. Oak Valley students who want to continue on to Del Norte instead of RB High can request the transfer as well. "No student will be asked to leave an existing school," Superintendent John Collins said.
• The Board recognized a number of students for their accomplishments this year, including four seniors who received $6,500 Don Phillips Memorial Scholarships, in honor of the late former superintendent. Those students: Alexis Bran (RB High); Daniel Mussad (Poway High); Amon-Ra Cunningham (Westview High); Cynthia Flores (Mt. Carmel). All are part of the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program, which helps students with limited resources.

[Editor's Note*: This story has been corrected regarding the boundary changes for Turtleback. The change begins in the fall of 2012, not this year. The error was the result of incorrect information from district staff.]