On June 8, amid a sea of somber faces, the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District School Board of Trustees discussed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s May revision to the state budget and its impacts on the district.
The district is facing more than $3 million in cuts for 2009-10, following the governor’s call to increase statewide cuts by about $1.3 billion. And the budget slashing is expected to cut even deeper in the years to come.
“I’d like to be able to tell you tonight that this is the end, but I can’t,” district superintendent Jeff Hearn told an audience of parents, teachers, and certified staffers. “But I would not be surprised if administration is back making more adjustments [within the year].”
The governor’s revisions, Hearn explained, were based on a budget deficit of about $21 billion. However, the deficit is currently sitting at $24.3 billion.
During the meeting, board members looked over a list of proposed budget cuts for the district, including sizeable reductions to summer school programs, adult education, transportation, and some personnel. If approved, the cuts would also eliminate class size reductions and reduce funding to a handful of district grants and programs. The board is set to vote on a final budget on June 17.
“We’re up against the wall. We have to make some choices,” board trustee Victor Tognazzini said.
Some members of the public, however, told the board they felt that a disproportionate amount of the cuts were balanced on the backs of credentialed and certified staff.
“If we’re going to suffer, then we all need to suffer,” said Debra Cole, a labor representative for the California School Employees Association.
Cole said she was “extremely disappointed” in the board’s decision to include the elimination of three library assistants, three school support secretaries, and one warehouse delivery driver in its list of proposed budget reductions.
“There’s an assumption made that [labor members] won’t consider taking furlough days or cutbacks to save positions,” she said.
Superintendent Hearn, however, said the board has made no such assumption. The eliminated positions were recommended by district staffers and will be considered by the board later this month, at which point such cuts or similar reductions will have to be made, he said.
For more information about the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District Board of Trustees, including agendas for upcoming meetings, visit smjuhsd.k12.ca.us.
—Amy Asman
This article appears in Jun 11-18, 2009.