PUSD Approves Budget Cuts

The Board of Trustees approved $3.5 million in budget cuts during its meeting Tuesday night by a 3-2 vote.

The trustees expressed frustration at having to make the cuts, which would help the district make up for a $7.7 budget shortfall in the coming school year. 

All five trustees said cuts needed to be made, but they disagreed on how to do it.

A list of recommended budget cuts—which included reading programs, increasing K-3 and ninth-grade class sizes and reducing counselors at middle and high schools—was , and amounted to a recommended $3.1 million in savings to the district. 

Some items were added to the list between the last budget meeting and last night, in order to give the trustees some alternatives, said Superintendent Parvin Ahmadi, during her presentation.

Additions to the list of proposed cuts included reductions in:

• A teacher training and mentoring program;
• A teacher peer assistance and review program;
• Remedial summer school programs for gradees 1-5 (a pre-school class and classes for English language learners would remain);
• Adult Education program;
• Kids Club capital expenditures; and
• District level health services liaison position.

Trustees Valerie Arkin and Jamie Hintzke, the two who voted no on the reductions, opposed the inclusion of reading programs on the cut list, including the Barton Reading Program and the elimination of reading specialists and remedial summer school reading programs in grades 1-5. 

"As I look at it, there are some things that I don't feel we should cut no matter what," said Arkin. "I think we need to find money to support those programs ... we need to prioritize."

Hintzke agreed, saying that the reading programs are core items that serve kids who are most at risk of falling behind.

"We should preserve the things that have the highest priority right now," said Hintzke. 

But keeping the reading programs would have put the district $18,000 short of its goal of making $3.1 million in cuts.

Meanwhile,  the other trustees, Chris Grant, Jeff Bowser and Joan Laursen, said they all agreed that the reading programs are essential to students.

But, they said there were too many uncertainties remaining — passage of a parcel tax, approval of tax extensions at the state level and ongoing negotiations with the district's labor groups — and said the district needs as much flexibility as possible. 

The district is trying to meet its deadline in sending out preliminary lay-off notices by March 15 to those whose positions could potentially go away in 2011-2012. Final notices are sent out on May 15. 

Laursen said that by April, the board will have a clearer picture of the state's budget, know where labor negotiations are at and have a better idea on whether a parcel tax will be successful. 

"We'll have a lot more information that we have now ... by not issuing the possible cuts, we preclude ourselves from making staffing changes at that point," she said. "We need to preserve as much flexibility."

Depending on how these factors unfold, the board could restore any of the cut programs this spring or summer.

Grant said that while he was ready to make the cuts as presented last night, he wanted to make a pledge to bring back the reading programs as soon as possible. 

"I think we have an obligation to work our tails off to not allow these reductions to happen," he said.

Ongoing negotiations with the district's unions could possibly result in additional savings.  Last year, agreements between the district and union groups totaled about $5 million. 

Another $5.4 million would be generated if voters approve state tax extensions in the June election. In addition, a parcel tax could bring in $2 million in May. 

To learn more about the approved budget cuts, click on the PDF to the right.