KHSD presents drastic budget cut proposals
| Friday, Jan 23 2009 04:26 PM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 12:57 PM
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The Kern High School District board got a scary first first look Friday at what it may have to cut to deal with a potential $20 million funding deficit in the next school year.
Among the most draconian proposals presented by the superintendent’s office is complete elimination of athletic programs, library services and bus transportation.
Although highly unlikely, the prospect of axing high school football illustrates the severity of the budget crisis.
The 21 “items for consideration” discussed Friday also include district office personnel, campus police, maintenance and special education spending.
In one scenario, up to 200 school personnel — including teachers, counselors and other staffers — could be cut to save $8.7 million. A more drastic cut would shed 400 such positions, or about 10 percent of the district's certificated employees, or those with teaching credentials, to save $15.5 million.
There are some relatively easy decisions the board could make: a one-time sweep of miscellaneous district office reserves; transferring the asbestos-abatement fund into the general fund; reducing warehousing services; and cutting the principal partner’s day breakfast.
All that would yield about $2.5 million in savings.
The board will study other “items for consideration” more carefully. It will next discuss the budget at its Feb. 2 meeting.
MORE OPTIONS
The overall budget presentation featured two levels of cutbacks — “Level 1” and “Level 2.”
Not counting school personnel cuts, total Level 1 reductions would save about $10 million; the more extreme Level 2 ones would save $23 million.
The district’s current budget is $342 million. Salaries and benefits represent by far the biggest expense at 81 percent of the total.
School enrollment is highest in fall, then drops as the year goes on. So up to $2 million could be saved via staffing efficiencies: offering one-semester contracts to teachers and adding more “extended day” periods early in the year, said Superintendent Don Carter.
Board members suggested there would be lots more cost-benefit analysis and study.
“We still have to make curricular changes that could help the bottom line,” said board President Joel Heinrichs, referring to adding virtual high school learning models and the proposed career technical education program.
Board member Ken Mettler advocated looking for savings through use of solar power and changing textbook adoptions policies.
The 21 areas fall into the unrestricted general fund category, meaning the state doesn’t have a say about district-level decisions.
But if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the legislature reach a budget agreement that provides spending flexibility in so-called “categorical funding” areas, it would give the district freedom to shift up to $70 million in funding to shore up other programs.
“We’re a strong advocate of budget flexibility. It will not mitigate the problems but will help to protect programs and teachers,” said Dennis Scott, KHSD associate superintendent of business.
WATCHFUL EYE
About 40 KHSD bus drivers and mechanics clad in bright blue district jackets attended to learn more about “how the cuts would be made.”
They understand some jobs will be lost and want to be involved in the budget decisions, said retired driver Bob Johnson.
“These are simply options to deal with the budget situation,” Carter stressed to the board and audience.
There is a bright spot on the horizon. Up to a quarter of California’s $41 billion budget shortfall could be erased by the federal economic stimulus being drafted in Washington, D.C., according to the Los Angeles Times.
The money would come from the $825-billion stimulus package that President Barack Obama is pushing. A smaller state budget shortfall would mean fewer cuts to schools.
