Not a moment too soon, the Santa Maria-Bonita School District has received a sizable portion of the funds promised it through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. School officials announced the news on June 15.
The district will use almost $4.3 million to restore dozens of district programs, rehire 20 or so teachers, and hire one assistant principal, district spokeswoman Maggie White said.
“Compared to other districts in the area, which are facing more cuts, we’re fortunate enough to be bringing back programs and restoring some positions,” she explained.
Most of the district’s money ($3.4 million of it) comes from the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund—a federal program disbursing one-time amounts to governors for the purpose of reducing cuts to education. That money, coupled with another $1.8 million to be released later, White said, will be used to backfill student services and teaching positions over the next two years. Incoming funds will also help alleviate the fiscal burden weighing down classified staff members by reducing furlough days, she said.
More money will be coming in the form of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funds, which can only be used to pay for special education programs.
The district is thankful to receive some good economic news after a tumultuous
season of draconic cuts and layoffs. Nevertheless, district officials aren’t letting the resurgence of funds go to their heads.
“We still don’t have a signed budget,” White explained, alluding to the fact that the state Legislature could very well still make more cuts to education.
“We’re not going to commit every penny and every dime,” she said. “And we’re not going to spend anything until all the money is in our accounts. You wouldn’t do that as an individual, and you certainly can’t do it as a big organization.”
White said the district plans to spend about two-thirds of its fiscal stabilization funds during the 2009-10 school year and the remaining funds in 2010-11.
Officials overseeing the district’s schools have been getting themselves in a similarly frugal mindset when it comes to spending their federal stimulus dollars.
To date, Santa Maria-Bonita has obtained about half ($856,000) of its Title I funds, which are meant to help disadvantaged students achieve greater academic success. That money—and the second installment, which is expected to come by September of this year—will be split among the district’s schools to backfill personnel.
But rather than going toward longtime teaching positions, district spokeswoman White said, the funds will mostly likely be used to hire teacher-tutors.
“This is one-time money,” White explained. “So if the state economy doesn’t pick up and the cuts don’t stop, schools will be out of money [to pay people].”
Hiring teacher-tutors for a contract time of 12 months, White said, is therefore the most frugal way to improve student learning.
Margaret Ontiveros, principal of Ontiveros Elementary School in Santa Maria, said her school’s money will most likely go toward hiring teacher-tutors for the school’s language arts and reading intervention program. The final decision, however, has yet to be made and requires approval from the school site council.
The purpose of the intervention program, Ontiveros said, is “to help determine the [reading and language] needs of our primary students and help our older students who are not at grade level.”
The money could also go toward restoring enrichment programs in art and music, and paying for field trips and assemblies.
“When we were working on our budget, we were very conservative,” she said. “We had a column of ‘maybes,’ of programs we’d fund if money become available. And now we’ll be able to take a look at them.”
Still, Ontiveros, like her fellow educators, is maintaining a practical view about the money’s impact on her school’s budget.
“We’re grateful we do have the stimulus money,” she said. “It doesn’t solve all our problems, but it is helpful.”
Contact Staff Writer Amy Asman at aasman@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 25 – Jul 2, 2009.