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School Board Begins ‘Painful’ Task of Cutting $6 Million
In a clear example of how California’s economic woes are coming home to roost, the Santa Barbara school board on Tuesday night began the painful process of slashing $6 million from its $120 million budget for the 2010-11 school year.
It marks the fourth consecutive year the board has been forced to retrench, so this year’s cuts could hit closer to the classroom — with potentially dozens of teacher layoffs, larger class sizes, cutbacks to summer school, the elimination of school crossing guards, layoffs of school psychologists, and even longer response times for maintenance requests to fix faulty outlets or broken toilets.
“Given this is our fourth round of cuts, all the things that were priorities to cut have already been cut,” school board member Annette Cordero said. “So now we’re getting to the things we tried to save in all those other rounds. It is painful.”
Year by year, the cuts have taken quite a toll. The K-12 school system’s total budget has shrunk to $120 million from $165 million in 2006-07.
The cuts come at a time when California’s budget seems — for the second year in a row — to be headed off a cliff, with lawmakers in Sacramento facing a $20 billion hole. What’s more, school officials say Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger hasn’t been a trustworthy protector of public education.
On Tuesday, Santa Barbara Deputy Superintendent Eric Smith accused Schwarzenegger of reneging on a promise he made during the State of the State address to protect public education from another “devastating” round of cuts.
“Two days later, the governor unveiled his budget plan for 2010-11, and the pledge to protect public education was nowhere to be found,” Smith said.
Most of the cuts in Santa Barbara would be felt in the junior high and high schools. The elementary district — unlike the secondary district — doesn’t have a structural deficit to correct. On Tuesday, administrators gave the board a list of potential cuts. The board is scheduled to make the cuts on Feb. 23.
The most sweeping proposal would increase class sizes to either 33 or 35 students, depending on the school. Currently, average class sizes at the middle and high schools range from 25 to 30. This would translate into the loss of about 45 full-time teachers and a savings of $3.3 million.
The only suggestion sparking an organized outcry Tuesday night was one calling for eliminating up to five of the district’s 18 school psychologists. The move would save $419,600. A handful of psychologists made their case before the board.
One of them, Juan Gallardo, said that cutting five psychologists would damage the special-education department, which last year suffered a protracted leadership meltdown — not to mention a PR nightmare — from which the district has only recently begun to recover.
“It will translate into assessment plans that are not mailed, assessments not completed within time lines, letters from parents that do not receive replies (and) behavior support plans that are not completed,” he said. “You may not understand all of our terminology, but what you will understand is these requirements are mandated by state and federal law, which will be broken and found out of compliance.”
Gallardo and at least one other psychologist also made passing reference to a disturbing local trend: an increase in teen suicides.
Another potential cut — eliminating funding for school crossing guards — hinted at some friction between the school board and the City Council. The $112,000 annual cost used to be covered by the Santa Barbara Police Department, but the city withdrew its funding in August because of its own budget woes. The schools agreed to pick up the tab for one year.
“Staff believes that the provision of crossing guards is a public safety function, and such, is the responsibility of the SBPD,” school administrators said in a staff report.
School board member Kate Parker said the city should be able to pay for the guards.
“The city rather blithely proposed last spring that when they cut this, we would supply PTA volunteers to cross our students,” she said. “Given the liability and the risks to students and to PTAs, we just couldn’t imagine any parent organization — volunteer organization — taking this on.”
Parker added that the city has “restricted funding” to support school crossing guards. “I really think that we need to take this back to the city,” she said.
Even cuts that on paper appear dry turn out to be somewhat close to the classroom. A proposal to reduce the “restricted maintenance account” by one-third — saving $1.2 million — most likely would mean that necessary fixes would be slower in coming.
“Things that aren’t affecting safety are going to be further down the list,” facilities director David Hetyonk said. “Light fixtures in the classroom that need a ballast won’t be done right away. There may be electrical outlets that aren’t working that won’t be fixed right away. There may be peeling lead paint that may not be addressed as soon as it should have. There may be toilets that aren’t working that don’t get fixed for a longer period of time than what it takes now.”
“That bothers me dramatically,” school board President Ed Heron said.
Other potential cuts:
» Charging fees for Associated Student Body bookkeepers to cover district processing costs ($188,950)
» Eliminating K-6 Home School Santa Barbara program ($200,000)
» Eliminating elementary summer school ($85,000)
» Eliminating two junior high assistant principal positions ($219,000)
» Reorganizing child development program and eliminating one coordinator ($114,000)
» Eliminating the community service portion of the three Career Center technicians at each high school ($86,500)
— Noozhawk staff writer Rob Kuznia can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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» on 02.10.10 @ 08:26 AM
Hey school board. What about reducing administration. They don’t work with our kids.
» on 02.10.10 @ 09:51 AM
As a former teacher in both public and private schools, I’m always frustrated when I read about cuts in education budgets. Our children deserve our best. The best is small classrooms with well prepared and trained teachers. I’d like to see all the city and county budgets published in the newspaper with attention to the salaries of all the administrators. Perhaps a job description for each administrator is in order? Do we really know how much Bill Cirone’s tenure costs the county? Does the public understand what he and other top administrator’s do? What percentage of the budget is allocated to the classroom? My father was a dedicated administrator who was often frustrated because the public didn’t seem to demand to know where their tax dollars went. Let’s see some investigative reporting on our schools’ budgets with just a little interest in how political dynamic effects our children.
» on 02.10.10 @ 11:45 AM
I thought government who is paid for by us, should have made the cuts long before the homeowners and business owners—Why are they last—break the unions in Gov—NOW—civil servants???
» on 02.10.10 @ 01:24 PM
And it will only get worse as property tax revenues fall next year. Too many administrators and non-teaching staff (who said our students need psychologists when we can’t afford good teachers)?
» on 02.10.10 @ 01:40 PM
There is a database online that shows all the CA gov’t and public school employees that make over $100K in pensions.
The retired school employees making over $100K in Santa Barbara are:
WYNELLE CHASE$135,226.92 SANTA BARBARA COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION
LAWRENCE FISHER$113,194.32 SANTA BARBARA COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION
FREDERICK COUCH $115,290.72 SANTA BARBARA HIGH
JAN ZETTEL $103,917.84 SANTA BARBARA HIGH
JOSEPH MORGAN $103,036.32 SANTA BARBARA HIGH
PAUL SERKA $101,787.24 SANTA BARBARA HIGH
JOHN ROMO $173,614.92 SANTA BARBARA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
PAUL BUCKELEW$152,754.48 SANTA BARBARA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
LYNDA FAIRLY $144,896.28 SANTA BARBARA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
PETER MACDOUGALL $122,992.80 SANTA BARBARA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
JACK ULLOM $122,108.40 SANTA BARBARA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
JOHN KAY $110,552.64 SANTA BARBARA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
JANE CRAVEN $100,261.56 SANTA BARBARA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
KLAUS WILLS $100,194.96 SANTA BARBARA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
You can also look up the city and county employees as well. It is a huge amount of money.
http://www.californiapensionreform.com/database.asp?vttable=calstrs
» on 02.10.10 @ 04:53 PM
WOW—Can you believ these high salaries???Perks -Pensions—this would bankrupt any company—bad leaders—union puppets..
» on 02.10.10 @ 06:24 PM
How much do we spend on maintaining athletic facilities?
Lights, heaters, staffing, seeding, watering, insurance costs. Maybe it is time to furlough sports until the district can afford to educate again.
» on 02.10.10 @ 08:11 PM
What is amazing about the pensions…is that Jan Zettel never taught even one clas. He worked for less than 3 years in our district at the district office, and is making bookoo money at the districts expense. I am a 20 year veteran classroom teacher, and I dont begin to earn that as my paycheck. Shame on the district for paying out so much in benefits to the people who never even worked with kids! I m so disappointed in this info…...
» on 02.10.10 @ 09:31 PM
Teachers and administrators contribute to their own pensions from their salaries so the info on the pensions is a bit deceptive. The teachers’ unions don’t pay anything into pensions. The district contributes to pensions but so do the teachers. I do believe that is a 50/50 split. Employees of the district have several choices about how to arrange their retirement. Some choose benefits that would not show up in the pension list below. My point is that we need to see where our tax dollars are going NOW. The various school district budgets need to be published. I do believe many are under the impression that most of their tax dollar goes into the teachers’ pockets. Those of us who’ve taught for any length of time know that is not the case. The smaller the district, the better informed the tax payers in that district seem to be. Too big to succeed?
» on 02.10.10 @ 10:35 PM
Priscilla - You think it’s a 50-50 split of teachers paying into their own pension? You think someone who makes $50k/year (much less $100k+) in retirement until death actually paid 50% into that? Have you done the math? It’s inconceivable! Teachers, like all other civil servants (gods?), for some reason, are lavished with taxpayer gold until they die.
Anyone who complains that the schools do not have enough money should have their ideas/opinions dismissed immediately upon utterance. The money they are allotted is simply wasted on paper-pushers and other unnecessary expenditures or over-expenditures (see: retirement benefits). The answer is - as with all areas of government - better usage of the funds they do have; not more funds. Anyone who says otherwise is simply dishonest, ignorant, or part of the scam. If you think giving the SB schools $20MM more in funding would have had any material effect on student education then you are delusional. The students from goal-oriented homes will continue to succeed while those from homes who couldn’t care less will continue to fail. And guess what? No amount of money (or lack thereof) will ever change that. Schools and their incessant demands for more money is the biggest scam there is. It all starts at home and our schools are more than adequately funded as it is now. Quit living in la-la land and be honest about reality for once…..shockingly, more of my money in the hands of hapless bureaucrats won’t solve all of society’s ills. No matter how many times they tell you it will…...
» on 02.10.10 @ 11:32 PM
...that there are no cuts at the District Office??? Are you KIDDING ME? How about some folks retire at the DO and their positions NOT be replaced? and I’m not talking about support staff here.
» on 02.11.10 @ 12:05 AM
The State Teachers’ Retirement System (STRS) pays the pensions for teachers. To my knowledge, it is NOT a government run program. It has nothing to do with your tax dollars. You only qualify for a full pension after 30 years AND reach the age of sixty. You must have both to get a full pension. You will not qualify for any social security even IF/When you have worked at other jobs - it is considered double dipping. Your spouse does not draw social security either. It is a good pension but by no means extravagant. If the job of teaching is soooo great and the benefits are sooo good, why aren’t people knocking down the doors to become teachers and why is the attrition rate so high?
» on 02.11.10 @ 08:43 AM
So, Brian Sarvis, superintendent at the Santa Barbara school district makes over $200,000 per year and I am sure others like him make these kinds of salaries. Are administrators like Mr. Sarvis taking pay cuts, and if not why aren’t they???
My son’s kindergarten teacher at Roosevelt school says that she is allotted $5.00 per student for rhe entire year for supplies. I wonder how much administrators like Mr. Sarvis are allotted for their supplies?
I wonder if the book “Animal Farm” is standard reading in school?
» on 02.11.10 @ 09:17 AM
Gharles - Where do you think the State Teachers’ Retirement System (STRS) gets their money? PTA contributions? Bake sales? They get it from tax dollars in some form.
So let me get this straight - they have to work 30 years in their career and retire at 60 to get a full pension? Oh my!! How horrific!!! You mean like the rest of us do anyway with NO pension to show for it afterwards? And do they get a 50% pension if they work 15 years? Still not half bad (no pun intended)!!
Nobody is saying teaching is the best job or sooo great, I’m saying that everyone in the private sector puts in 30 years at some crappy job that they hate and they don’t get an outrageous pension! And government employees shouldn’t either!! They should have to open up a retirement account like the rest of us and live off of that for as long as they can like the REST of us…..guaranteed money forever is wrong (unless you cure cancer).
» on 02.11.10 @ 09:25 AM
Jeez Louise - what a farce! Even the smallest districts have 4 - 6 assistant superintendents doing all sorts of vital paperwork back at the office. Cut a few of these jobs and voila there is more money for teaching! COME ON ED HERON: at what point do you stand up for the kids and start shedding some admin staff? One asst super probably pays for 50 crossing guards or maybe 3 teachers or maybe 5 sports programs…
» on 02.11.10 @ 10:20 AM
The wasteful staffing and huge salaries is just out of control and rediculous—kill the unions in Government..Vote out union puppets—Schneider-Das-House-Wolf-Carajal-Farr..all shills..Reduce pay and benifits 30%..now
» on 02.11.10 @ 11:49 AM
Teachers pensions have the same issue of all CA gov’t pensions. The amount the teachers and district have put in is completely inadequate to pay the pensions and the tax payers are on the hook. The current shortfall is $43B!
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/29/business/la-fi-calstrs29-2010jan29
» on 02.11.10 @ 12:37 PM
It comes as a shock the way some people in our community view teaching/teachers.
Bob, teachers are not viewed as “gods” by any means (more often, the opposite), and I am wondering where you get that notion. Also, your quote “Teachers…are lavished with taxpayer gold until they die” is a crock. People with a Masters in many fields tend to make a good degree more than teachers. The $900/yr stipend we receive for having one does little to pay off the loans incurred to get it. Also, I have been a teacher in our district for 6 years. Every year, I receive a notice telling me that due to budget cuts, my job has been terminated. I, unlike others, have been fortunate to be rehired, but often not until August, just weeks before the school year begins again. What other institution works like this, and how is this a respectful way to treat the people you depend on? Not only does the budget need attention, but so does the entire system.
If we continue to cut education funds and increase class sizes, please hope that you are no longer around to depend on the ill-educated to take care of you (Social Security, etc.) in your later years. Fast food and crime, among other “careers,” certainly won’t be doing much for the country, much less the individual.
» on 02.11.10 @ 01:45 PM
I do not think anyone is devaluing the contributions of our teachers.
However we have a serious issue facing all of California with unfunded gov’t pensions. If we have to fund teachers pensions as currently ‘promised’ we will have to divert an additional approx 20% of school funding to teachers pensions. This would be a devastating outcome for our students.
In addition teachers raises and retention are based on seniority which is not a formula for success.
» on 02.11.10 @ 04:55 PM
Thank you Gharles for some facts. Every public school teacher has a rather large hunk taken from their pay check and put into the STRS which in turn invests that for them. The folks who run the STR have the advantage of a reliable, steady source of funds for their investments. Most of the teachers I know spend a good deal of their own pay check on classroom supplies. Hence their paychecks are even smaller than a budget report would indicate. More money does not solve all the problems. Diligent stewardship might.
» on 02.11.10 @ 07:07 PM
I am certainly not bad-mouthing teachers in any way. This is bigger than teachers, it’s about how government, as a whole, operates. The way government operates is simply unsustainable. You can’t expect to continue telling people “we need more money” year after year and not expect them to eventually say “ENOUGH!”. That’s all I’m saying. The system is broken and the unions do nothing but exacerbate the problem. It has to end.
And, Priscilla, nobody cares that they have a “considerable chunk” taken from their paycheck, WE ALL DO!! It’s called investing for retirement. They aren’t to be pitied or put up on a pedestal for making this “great sacrifice”, it’s a normal part of life. MY retirement is always fully funded - I get whatever I put in plus any capital gains. When it runs out, it’s gone. A teacher’s pension is not fully funded. They are promised $XXX and if their contributions plus gains fall short (which they will), I am on the hook for the difference. So I have to pay for my own retirement and for Mrs. Smith’s retirement. I don’t appreciate that. That’s all.
» on 02.11.10 @ 08:50 PM
Bob, It’s my understanding that the STRS is a privately run outfit. This year, most retired teachers have been biting their nails just like everyone else who has investments for retirement. Teaching is a fabulous , if exhausting, profession and while it hasn’t made me rich it certainly was rewarding in many other ways. I’m just wondering why it is so difficult to get investigative reporters to find out where our tax dollars actually go——here, in Santa Barbara at the County Schools’ office. The Santa Barbara News Press used to have an education reporter who wrote articles about such things and gave the voters pretty accurate information….....sigh…..
» on 02.11.10 @ 09:18 PM
There is no way for CA to dig itself out of the pension mess they have made. CA is very much in the same position of GM/Chrysler, the pension plans for all gov’t workers including teachers will have to be reset to something that works.
The amount of $$‘s put into the pension plans by the teachers and school district are not able to cover the ‘promised’ retirement payments. Currently it looks like it can cover about 77% of the amount ‘promised’ but unless payments are adjusted to the current retired people it will be less and less each year.
» on 02.12.10 @ 01:01 AM
The list that Noozhawk supplied isn’t the full list of suggested cuts. You can see the actual plan here: http://www.sbsdk12.org/budgets/2009-10/FiscalSolvencyPhase3_02-09-10.pdf
The superintendent took a 5% hit to his salary during the budget cuts last year.
» on 02.12.10 @ 10:03 PM
Repeal the laws that require administrators, or pay their salaries. No district wants legal sanction because they didn’t meet this or that state requirement. You voted (not me, the candidates I vote for consistently lose, like when I voted for Tom McClintock, not the Austrian) for lawyers to be legislators and guess what they did - they passed a zillion more laws! We only need the legislature in session a month a year. That will keep costs down. And you teach a bunch of Mexicans English and that will cost you too. And you force the District to pay through the nose for “special” education while the regular kids get the short end of the stick. How about we get the government out of the education business altogether? You have kids? You pay for them. Don’t tax me for your kids. I like kids. I have two. Just get your hands out of my wallet. This is not that hard folks. The market will figure what teacher’s salaries are really worth.
» on 02.13.10 @ 04:46 PM
How about work ethic—what happen—- unions??
» on 02.14.10 @ 03:36 PM
Get the unions out of government and our puppet government leaders pockets—if they take union money—Vote them out—
overtaxed taxpayer..
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