"Superintendent outlines budget challenge with no easy solution"

Reposted here with the permission of The Davis Enterprise - http://www.davisenterprise.com/local-news/superintendent-outlines-budget-challenge-with-no-easy-solution/

Before an audience of about 40 concerned parents and community members, Davis school district officials outlined the schools' $3.5 million fiscal dilemma during an hourlong meeting Wednesday at Davis High School.

"The Davis school district is going into the fifth consecutive year of reduced state funding, with no recovery in projected," explained Bruce Colby, associate superintendent.

"The district has weathered these last five years through one-time funding resources (like federal stimulus money and federal jobs bill money), as well as spending reductions, retirement incentives, one-time employee concessions and a temporary tax measure."

That was Measure A, a two-year, $200-per-year emergency parcel tax narrowly approved last year by local voters.

Added Superintendent Winfred Roberson, "We've issued pink slips in the past, and we've been fortunate enough to rescind those pink slips for several years," due to the one-time budgetary moves.

But at this point, "there are no more miracles," and the district faces some very tough decisions regarding staffing levels and its academic program, Roberson said.

The Davis Board of Education will discuss a resolution authorizing layoff notices for 50.1 positions at tonight's meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. in the Community Chambers at Davis City Hall, 23 Russell Blvd.

It will air live on Davis cable Channel 17 or as live streaming video on www.djusd.net.

Davis has a $3.5 million structural deficit, which could be reduced by laying off about 60 employees, or by employee concessions and/or a shorter school year. (Each 1 percent of the school district's payroll amounts to about $500,000.)

In the event that Davis voters turn down Measure C — the five-year parcel tax of $320 per single-family home being decided in a vote-by-mail election ending March 6 — the school district would face the loss of another $6.5 million. That money is generated by Measures Q and W, which expire in June.

Outside the meeting, Davis resident Jose Granda carried a "Vote No on C" sign and distributed leaflets. He criticized school district's administrative salaries and the senior citizen homeowner exemption that is part of Measure C.

What's more, the district could face an additional $2.9 million hit if California voters do not approve a statewide ballot measure being advanced by Gov. Jerry Brown to provide additional funding for education through temporary taxes.

And in 2013-14, the emergency funding provided by Measure A, intended to tide Davis over through the worst of the state budget crisis, will expire. It generates $3.2 million annually.

Roberson and Colby noted that the district has eliminated 30 jobs thus far, a reduction of about $2 million, but it faces the prospect of much larger staffing cuts now.

Complicating the budget picture are rising expenses due to energy costs and step-and-column increases granted to employees; together they total $600,000 to $700,000 per year.

Colby said Davis is now forced to contemplate dramatic increases in class size, or cutting elementary music programs or school librarians — options other districts already have pursued but that Davis has been able to avoid until now.

Roberson noted that "all school districts are increasing class size," and that is certainly an option for Davis. Under some scenarios, K-3 classes could rise to 30 students from the 20 that was standard a few years ago, and grades 4-6 could see 34 students rather than 26.

Classes at the junior high and high school levels could increase to 35 to 40 students. That's the top end, Assistant Superintendent Matt Best told the Board of Education recently, due to the physical size of standard classrooms.

But Gail Mitchell, president of the Davis Teachers Association, said after the meeting that cuts "should be kept as far away from the children as possible. The children are in the classroom, and the cuts should be kept out of the classroom."

Colby issued a sharp warning that the school district's cash reserves are very thin, because of repeated deferrals of funding from the state. "Our fund balance is now a giant IOU from the state," he said.

Colby said closing an elementary school might save about $400,000 a year. "But we are pretty tight in terms of enrollment right now," he noted, and students from a closed campus would have to be housed somewhere.

Closing a junior high campus would save $500,000 to $600,000 annually.

"We'd go to two junior high schools of about 1,000 students each," and none of the three campuses can handle that many students, Colby said.

"This is a tough process," Roberson said in conclusion. "Right now, I am so proud of our teachers and support staff. Even though we are going through all this difficulty, they are resilient, and they remain passionate about the work they do.

"We see our teachers working hard. We have a great employee work force here. Give a teacher a hug. They're doing the best they can."