School districts brace for budget showdown





Oak Park and Las Virgenes unified school districts are bracing for the worst budget scenario since the economy began to decline five years ago.

School officials say all fat has been trimmed from budgets, reserves are at all-time lows and dodging the bullet again next year will be impossible even under the best economic circumstances.

School budgets throughout the state are hinging on whether Gov. Jerry Brown can pass a tax initiative package in November. Brown’s plan would raise the state sales tax by half a cent and impose a 1 percent income tax increase for five years on people who earn more than $250,000 per year.

Oak Park

In Oak Park, Superintendent Tony Knight lamented that even under the best-case scenario the district will face a $1.2-million budget shortfall for the 2012-13 school year. If the governor’s proposal fails at the ballot box, OPUSD will have to contend with unprecedented cuts, which could mean $2.8 million less for Oak Park schools.

“We were deficit spending and being held together with one-time funds,” said Assistant Superintendent Martin Klaus at the Feb. 20 school board meeting.

“We expect to end the year by exhausting our general fund and using $430,000 from our mandated Reserve for Economic Uncertainties, which will lower that fund to just 1.7 percent,” Knight said. Ordinarily, school districts are required to maintain a 3 percent reserve fund.

The Oak Park district is facing budget cuts despite its District of Choice designation, which has boosted enrollment by 35 percent and added more than $5 million to the bottom line. The District of Choice designation allows students to transfer into the school district without being formally released from their home districts.

In December 2011 Oak Park officials approved Proposal B, which suspended the enrollment cap of 35 percent for out-ofdistrict students. Total district enrollment is authorized to go as high as 4,360. At the Dec. 31, deadline, the district had received 889 out-of-area applications.

The Oak Park Unified School District Board of Education took action to ease budget tensions by voting 5-0 to increase class sizes at several grade levels. In kindergarten through third grade, class sizes will rise from 25 to 28 students. Fourth- and fifth-grade classes will maintain their current size of up to 32 students, and in sixth through eighth grades ratios will also allow up to 32 students per class. In high school, the board authorized an increase in class size from 32 to 33 students per class.

“The district is working to address this issue; however, it is too early to provide a specific list (of proposed cuts to schools), Knight said. “In general, the district is developing a three-tiered plan that maximizes revenues through enrollment growth and increased class sizes; the reduction or elimination of educational and operational programs, including associated personnel costs; and the implementation of furlough days.”

Las Virgenes

Las Virgenes Unified has already built next year’s budget based on eight fewer school days. LVUSD official say they’ll have to trim an additional $3 million from the budget on top of the $10 million that has been cut over the past five years.

If Brown’s tax package fails, LVUSD could potentially lose an additional $6 million to $10 million.

At its peak, Las Virgenes operated on a $102-million budget. Next year the district has forecast an $86-million budget.

Brown’s plan appears to take a Robin Hood approach—more funding to schools with a higher percentage of English language learners and students who qualify for free and reduced-price meal plans and less money for richer school districts.

“Clearly our district doesn’t have that (percentage of low-income students), Oak Park doesn’t have that,” Zimring said. “Districts that don’t have that will be paying for districts that do. And if this happens, schools will have to start to identify what programs will be cut.”

The LVUSD board voted to maintain lower class sizes in elementary schools. Class sizes in kindergarten through third grade will remain in the low- to mid- 20s, Zimring said.

“The state is in a horrific economic situation—all of us understand that,” he said. “The governor’s proposal takes the right step. Local control, take away restrictions on how monies can be spent, allowing each school district to use the resources that will best meet the needs of the children.”



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