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There
is a general fiscal state of
emergency in Sacramento and we
know there will be drastic cuts
in public education as part of
the state's strategy for dealing
with this fiscal crisis.
While not as severe as some
districts, these cuts will
affect our district, too.
Why
is this second point significant?
Only
11% of our $25 million district budget
comes from state and federal sources.
The other whopping 89% of our district
budget comes from local sources and
56% of that same budget comes directly
from property tax revenue. Thus,
the fate of our greatest source of
revenue comes to us by way of a 'key
driver' we don't control.
What
about the state cuts?
About
10% of our budget comes from the state
and amounts to about $2.5 million.
These funds are restricted to specific
funding areas such as K-3 class size
reduction (we receive no state funds
for grades 4-8), special education,
staff development, and a handful of
categories for which we receive a very
small amount of funding due to our
demographics. The greatest
impact areas will be K-3 class size
reduction and special education.
These two categories account for $2.65
million dollars of our total budget,
for which we expect a reduction of
approximately $190,000. When
other categories for which we receive
state funding are added to the mix, we
are looking at a total
reduction of state funds of
approximately $250,000. What
makes this challenging is that we
already provide significant financial
support to almost all of the
categories that will be cut; and to
reduce or eliminate services in these
areas is either prohibitive or
unrealistic.
We also know the state fiscal
crisis will most likely worsen and our
elected officials in Sacramento may
make even deeper cuts before they
adopt a state budget.
What
are we doing?
We
are in the thick of budget
development. Our leadership team
and School Board will do everything
possible to cushion the negative
impacts our fiscal realities have on
our classrooms, teachers, and
students. We will have tapped
into our reserves both last year and
this year; and have already
anticipated cuts by taking reductions
this budget year so as to operate as
efficiently as we possibly can.
As we continue the budget development
process, we will look for all manner
of creative options to avoid impacting
our core mission as much as possible.
As is the case with all school
districts, we are appropriately a
"people business" and 87% of
our expenses are put into people.
Literally, everything else we do
relies upon the remaining 13%.
What's
on the horizon?
The
speed with which public school
districts can be negatively impacted
by factors outside our control
underscores the need to have a
dedicated and protected stream of
revenue that preserves the exceptional
school district we have all worked so
hard to create. Our Board will
most likely have to make painful
decisions over the coming months to
trim a budget that will continue to be
strained due to the state's actions
and the fiscal instability in our
state and region. They will also work
to create any possible new revenue
sources possible, understanding that
reductions and added revenue need to
not only serve the immediate budget,
but must also help to develop a
long-term sustainable fiscal
environment.
What
can you do?
Please
help us protect the quality of your
investment, one that places academic
performance in the top 10% of
California schools; provides a
teaching and learning environment that
attracts high quality teachers and
support staff; has at its core a
quality comprehensive education for
kids that includes strong academics,
quality arts programs, highly
qualified leaders, teachers, support
staff, and a parent and general
community dedicated to the District's
mission. It is important to know
and understand the issues, talk to
people about those issues, and
communicate your concerns and ideas to
us; and to your elected officials!
There are links below that I hope will
help you do these things, and I hope
you will participate with our Board
and leadership team over the coming
months as the 2008-2009 budget is
developed and approved. We are
planning to visit each school
community and we will publish that
schedule soon. We will also make
sure you know about the District's 2nd
annual community roundtable which will
focus on the District's fiscal health.
Why
is it important for you to be
involved?
Moving
beyond the obvious and the local
issues, the reductions that our
state's schools face is nothing new.
After 35 years as a teacher,
principal, administrator and now
Superintendent, my most grave concern
is not that we won't weather the
storm. We always have.
But, as we enter another series of
cuts throughout the state's schools,
what message are we sending to our
youth about the priority society
places on a quality education for all
children? What message are we
sending dedicated educators about the
priority placed on supporting their
work on behalf of all children?
Finally, what message are we sending
to the hundreds of thousands of young
people who are deciding what they want
to do with their lives and careers?
Will the best and brightest still want
to teach and lead?
Sincerely,
