Jeff Hudson
Enterprise staff writer
The Davis Enterprise

What a difference a day makes. In just 24 hours, the financial picture for the Davis school district brightened considerably.

A big surge of last-minute contributions — more than $200,000 — streamed in Thursday to the Davis Schools Foundation, boosting the group's "Dollar-a-Day" campaign to $1.77 million. That's enough to "buy back" more than two dozen positions for teachers and librarians who had been threatened by layoffs.

And when the governor's revised state budget was revealed Wednesday afternoon, there was more good news. Bruce Colby, associate superintendent for the Davis school district, announced Thursday that the Davis district can count on an additional $1.2 million in state revenue for the upcoming school year.

The bottom line in terms of staffing was announced at Thursday night's school board meeting by Superintendent James Hammond. Even though upwards of 110 teachers received letters in March advising them of possible layoffs, the district stands to lose just four elementary teaching positions — spread out over eight schools.

And at the junior high and high school level, the district could lose 7.3 teaching positions ("probably a little less," Colby predicted, based on the late surge in donations), spread over the three junior high schools, Davis High and Da Vinci High.

In other words, while there undoubtedly will be some losses and some pain, the devastating layoffs and draconian program cuts that people have worried about for the past four months have largely been averted — for now.
"This fall, we should be able to keep a very similar educational program to what we had this year," Colby said, looking happy and relieved.

Or, as Harper Junior High Principal David Inns put it, "There will be fewer sections offered for some courses, and enrollment in some sections will be bigger, but we should be able to offer the full program we've had in the past."
Hammond smiled as he read through a list of programs that had been threatened just a few weeks ago. "We'll be able to fully restore elementary science prep teachers, and elementary librarians," he said.

Funds also were raised to restore elementary music programs, meaning that staffing for junior high and high school music programs will remain as is.

And funding is in place for coaching stipends and related athletic programs, which had been considered for cuts.

During Thursday's school board meeting, the Davis Schools Foundation thanked a series of donors, including:

• A group of school librarians, who gathered pledges and walked 1,259 miles, raising $62,246 for the Davis Schools Foundation. Librarian Nora Brazil blinked through tears as she presented a "big fake check" to the school board.
• The Emerson Junior High PTA, which voted Tuesday to donate $5,000 to the Davis Schools Foundation.* The Willett Elementary PTA, which likewise voted to donate $5,000.
• The Davis Food Co-op, which offered customers the opportunity to donate in the checkout line, and raised $8,600. "And we're not done yet," said representative Eric Stromberg.
• Nugget Markets, which likewise offered customers in their two Davis stores the opportunity to donate in the checkout line, raising some $38,000.
• The Yackzan Group, represented by Gregg Herrington, which donated $14,000.

There also was an announcement of an arrangement between the Davis Schools Foundation and the Davis School Orchestral Music Association, which raised more than $200,000 with its own "Save Our Music" campaign, aimed at restoring elementary music programs.

Angelo Moreno, orchestra conductor at Davis High School, was all smiles as he told the school board that "tonight, on behalf of all parent music boosters for band, choir and orchestra at the elementary, junior high and high school level, the organizers of the Save Our Music! campaign are committing the largest donation to the Davis Schools Foundation ... we have entrusted this check for $204,977.

"I am grateful, as a teacher, to work in a district where families care so much about their schools," Moreno said. "When families and teachers care this much, good things inevitably will happen."

The large donation to the foundation by the music supporters will free up money for the foundation to redirect toward restoring at least two nonmusic teaching positions, Moreno said.

Janet Berry, president of the Davis Schools Foundation, received a standing ovation from the crowd in the Community Chambers when she announced the $1.77 million total.

Berry mentioned "thousands of donations, large and small" from groups like Davis Lutheran Church, Scout troops, pink-slipped teachers, El Macero Country Club, the organizers of Schoolapalooza! and others.

She introduced Paul Swanson of the Davis firefighters, who together with the Odd Fellows raised more than $7,500.

She also brought Realtor Doug Arnold to the microphone, who told the crowd how he'd attended the old West Davis Elementary back in the 1950s, has three children who graduated from local schools, and now has six grandchildren in the school district. Arnold and other real estate agents raised more than $10,000.

Amanda López-Lara, student representative to the school board, said, "I've never seen the community come together like this — families, students, people of all races. I'll never be able to thank you enough for bringing back the teachers."

Trustee Susan Lovenburg compared the school district to a patient that's just been given an electric jolt after cardiac arrest. "The heart is beating again," she said.

Later in the evening, as the jubilant crowd thinned and the school board turned its attention to remaining items on its agenda, Lovenburg took a moment to quietly remind herself and others that the Davis school district still faces quite a few challenges, including the financial ramifications of declining enrollment, and an ongoing structural budget deficit of more than $2 million.

The school board hopes to address some of that red ink by proposing a local parcel tax to fund academic programs, which is expected to go on the ballot Nov. 4. Hammond outlined a timeline for the upcoming parcel tax campaign.

The trustees are hopeful that the broad community support for the Davis Schools Foundation's is a good omen. The school district is expected to hire a pollster to help assess support for a parcel tax.

But even if a parcel tax passes, the district will need to adjust its programs, as enrollment is expected to diminish for a few more years, before flattening out and beginning to rise. And the Davis district will need to demonstrate its fiscal stability to the Yolo County Office of Education, which takes a three-year view of a school district's budget as it evaluates its financial viability.

"There are still some reductions that will be necessary" as the district moves ahead, Lovenburg said.