BUSD Board OK’s Slew of Budget Cuts (CA)

April 29, 2010

School board members pared down about $2.2 million from Barstow Unified School District’s budget by approving cuts like eliminating summer school for 2011-12 and cutting back on two bus routes, among other reductions, but opposed ideas like closing an elementary school or downsizing junior high sports.

Board members sat through a familiar process Tuesday night, voting one by one on a list of recommendations. The cuts ran the gamut, from abolishing teaching positions and increasing class sizes, which totaled about $1.65 million, to slicing part of the board members’ stipends, for a savings of $945 a year.

Any of the approved cuts, like not holding summer school for 2011-12, could be reinstated if the district received unforeseen funding by that time, according to Tony Wardell, assistant superintendent of business. BUSD, however, does not anticipate extra funds showing up, he added.

Taking away summer school will mean that students will have to take remediation courses during an additional class period or possibly on Saturdays, said Superintendent Susan Levine.

The board decided to cut back on two unidentified bus runs and instead route other buses to make extra stops. Lisa Morris, transportation director, noted at the board meeting that while the buse s were able to fit the additional students, some students chose to walk home because they did not want to ride a crowded bus. Students will still get picked up at the same place and time, Levine said.

The largest cutback, involving certificated positions, will shrink the district’s teaching staff by up to 46 positions next year. As a result, K-12 class sizes will average 30 students per class. Currently kindergarten and first grade classes that receive state funding to help keep their small sizes have about 24 students. The approved cut does not mean additional layoffs, because the March 15 state mandated deadline for layoffs has passed. It does, however, abolish the 32 teaching positions that were given preliminary layoff notices in March, which at the time the district noted could be retracted until May 15. The other positions being eliminated include retirements and teachers that the district will not be rehiring.

The four board members present — board member Ernest Vogt was absent — unanimously opposed impacting junior high sports and turning the competitive program into an intramural program after Wardell reported that 20 other middle schools in the High Desert have kept their programs.

“There will be teams to play out there next year,” he said.

The board was more divided on school closures, with Board President Julie Clemmer and Mary Rodriguez voting in favor of closing a school in the 2011-12 year, and members Ace Acevedo and Barbara Rose opposing closures.
Wardell noted that while the board met its aim to cut approximately $2.2 million each year for the next three years due to the state’s fiscal crisis and BUSD’s dropping student enrollment, the district is, overall, still in deficit spending by about $2.3 million.

“We’re pleased with what we got but we’re only halfway home,” Wardell said. He also noted that school distr icts are waiting on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget revise to be released in early May to recalculate whether the state slashes more education funding.

“I know it becomes frustrating, it feels like the numbers change continuously and unfortunately they do, just based on what the state is — or isn’t — doing in regards to education,” he said.