Budget Crisis Updates


Tuesday, October 14th SVUSD School Board Meeting Update:

Dr. Fish has announced that we are worse off with new state budget passed in October 2008 and he now projects that the district will have to cut $8 million next year. In February the district will announce any mid-year cuts. In order to lessen the impact of any mid-year cuts, they haven't release any categorical funds and they plan on freezing all accounts at some point which he could not announce at this time. The mid-year cuts cannot be teachers.

FRKF asked how we could best help and Dr. Fish and the school board said we could contact our state representatives and ask them to grant flexibility of the categorical funds similar to what was presented in the governor's May revise. Our representatives have the ability to make this happen, they need pressure from the constituents.

We will schedule teams visiting Chuck Devore. If you are interested in joining us, please let us know. In the meantime, we need to call Devore's office as well as Senator Ackerman's office. Dr. Fish said that since many of the representatives in our district are leaving office this year (Ackerman is leaving after this election), we should try to contact the candidates running for those offices. FRKF will post that contact information soon.

Superintendent's Budget Update

As you may know, the state of California finally passed a budget. With the closure of that process comes the reality of its impact to SVUSD. The state budget provided a COLA of .68% or $40 per student. That translates into a $1.28 million overall increase. However, once that amount is offset with losses in other areas, the net reduction for the current year is over $2 million. We budget using multiple year projections, and, in 2009-2010, are facing further reductions in enrollment along with increased costs of operation. Therefore, in total, we expect that we may have to reduce costs by approximately $8 million next year.

The adopted budget for this year already includes reductions in staff, programs and a wide range of services totaling $13.5 million. Cuts of this magnitude eliminated 69 certificated and 43 classified positions District wide. These cuts regretfully have had a detrimental impact on our services, and we hope for the patience and understanding of parents and students as we come to grips with them. Additionally, as mentioned above, the continued risk areas of declining enrollment, rising payroll and health care costs, combined with a sagging state economy remain a concern for the District's current and future budgets. The revised Budget Reduction List for the 2008-09 school year may be accessed on the SVUSD Budget Crisis webpage.

With the General Fund Budget reductions for 2008-09 combined with last year's reductions, SVUSD has cut more than $16.7 million in just two years. Additionally, over the last six years in excess of $15 million has been cut for a total reduction of $33.7 million! As the state outlook on educational funding continues to look bleak, we must continue to make our voices heard. Letters and telephone calls to legislators can be instrumental in shaping their final budgetary decisions. Now that the budget passed, all efforts to highlight the importance of adequate funding for education should soldier on.

Please visit the District webpage to learn more about the State Budget Crisis, the specific impact on SVUSD and how to contact legislators. As devastating as this is to SVUSD, we will continue to provide the highest quality of educational service to all, especially our students.

Thank you for your continued support.
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KJ