Pleasanton School District Deficit Grows to $6.9 Million

January 12, 2010

Five days after releasing a recommended list of cuts to help alleviate a $3.6 million gap in its budget, the Pleasanton school district announced Monday that it could be facing an additional $3.3 million deficit.

In an e-mail, the district announced that after its advisers reviewed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s preliminary budget for fiscal year 2010-11 that Pleasanton can expect to receive $201 less per student. The district received $5,681 per student this year.

With a district enrollment of about 14,830, the district stands to lose about $2.98 million in state funding. The remaining $400,000 deficit is expected to come from a decrease in cost of living adjustment as well as reductions to special education and other programs. The loss in revenue to the district was blamed on fewer dollar s collected through state taxes. The district’s budget is roughly $115 million this year.

The district identified a "list of recommended reductions and if we did those things we thought we would be OK for 2010-11," Superintendent John Casey said. The proposed reductions include the elimination of at least 50 full-time jobs.

"Now, we are looking at $3.3 million and will have to go back and look for additional cuts and let the board know what its options are," he said.

Trustees are expected to discuss budget issues today at their 7 p.m. board meeting, and district administrators are scheduled to meet Wednesday to discuss further
cuts.

Pleasanton cut $11.2 million from its budget last year and that included altering class sizes from 20 students per teacher to 25 students per teacher in kindergarten through third grade and in ninth-grade English and math.

"If this is indeed what it is, then we are looking at about $7 million in cuts," trustee Valerie Arkin said about the increased deficit. "That is really huge to our district, considering all the cuts we made last year."

At a budget advisory committee meeting Thursday, the district released several recommended reductions. At least 50 positions could be trimmed, but the biggest cut was elimination of the class-size reduction program. If the school board approves the cuts, class sizes would increase from 25 students per teacher to a 30-to-1 ratio for kindergarten through third grade and to 32-to-1 for ninth-grade English and math.

Elimination of class-size reduction would save the district roughly $1.7 million in its estimated $112 million budget for 2010-11.

A reduction in school hours for first through fifth grades is also on the table, as is elimination of funding for Gifted and Talented and Barton Reading programs.

Reading specialists, after-school tutoring and reading and math assistance could be eliminated. Counseling positions may also be reduced at all levels, and summer school offerings could be reduced and or become fee-based.