School District Will Have To Dip Into Its Reserves
Declining state revenues has led to an automatic cut of $7.8 million in funds to the San Ramon Valley Unified School District
San Ramon Valley school officials are going to have to use more than 40 percent of their available budget reserves to make up for upcoming cuts in state funding.
State officials announced this week that California will be receiving $3.7 billion less in revenues this fiscal year than they expected.
That is triggering an automatic mid-year cut of $2 billion to education and social services.
Terry Koehne, a spokesman for the San Ramon Valley Unified School District, said the district expects to receive $7.8 million less in state funds the remainder of this fiscal year.
Rather than cut from the district's $223 million budget, district administrators plan to use $7.8 million of the $18 million of available reserve funds to plug the gap.
"The problem with mid-year cuts is you've already adopted your budget for the year," said Koehne.
He said the district should be able to "weather the storm" this year because of careful financial planning in the past.
"The writing has been on the wall. You could see this coming," Koehne said.
However, he warned of a "bigger problem" coming down the road. Koehne said the state is projecting a $13 billion shortfall in revenues in the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.
He noted the district for the past four years has already been receiving $30 million a year less in state funds than it's entitled to receive under Proposition 98.
He said budget tightening measures such as furlough days and no cost of living raises will most certainly continue.
Longtime Resident
10:12 am on Friday, November 18, 2011
And will the district still be paying out $1.143 million to staff for last year's furlough days?
Judy Gestring
1:35 pm on Friday, November 18, 2011
Good question! So will staff be paid for unworked days, or will the staff be required to teach our children for additional days. I would think that paying for unworked days constitutes a gift of public funds.
Cathy S.
2:37 pm on Friday, November 18, 2011
Very good point.
Cathy S.
2:32 pm on Friday, November 18, 2011
Ridiculous first they pay teachers for 3 days off, nice paid vacation, no help for students who lost valuable class time, now that money would reduce the impact of the loss by more than 10%. I support teachers, many in my family either teach or plan to become teachers, but they didn't teach for no pay, the demanded time off. I think it was serious mismanagement by the school board to pay teachers for vacation days, and now it has come back to bite them.
Karey
2:51 pm on Friday, November 18, 2011
I don't work in SRVUD (but I did attend there, live there and will have children there in the upcoming years), but I do work for another school district. When we were paid for our furlough days, we made them up that year and the following year. We made up our time and I'm sure it's the same with SRVUSD. Don't be so quick to judge. But WHERE in this article does it state that the teachers are being reimbursed????? Furlough days are generally taken from teacher work days/collaboration days BEFORE they are taken from actual instructional time. Stop blaming teachers.
Longtime Resident
4:49 pm on Friday, November 18, 2011
The school board approved it on Oct 18, 2011. http://sanramon.patch.com/articles/school-board-approves-one-time-payment-for-srvusd-staff
And no, the time was not made up. The time was taken off the previous school year and has not been made up. The furlough days were on instruction days. So please don't tell me not to judge when you do not have the facts.
Karey
9:01 pm on Sunday, November 20, 2011
Are you an educator? Just because it wasn't on the patch, doesn't mean the time hasn't been made up. "Longtime Resident," I would love for you to sit in on meeting after meeting, deal with over 200 students a day, because your class size is increasing due to STATE cuts, handle parents, ensure that all of your students are learning the standards, passing the tests, grade papers/essays/tests, spend your lunch helping students, spend your prep (if you lucky enough to have one - I don't) making copies, finding new ways to engage students, spend hours AFTER school helping students learn, spend your evening - not with your family - but grading more papers, because again, you have over 200 students, spending your weekends buying supplies because your school doesn't have the money or writing grants so your school can get the money for the supplies to help students learn.
Longtime Resident
7:44 pm on Tuesday, November 22, 2011
No, I'm a parent whose children were not in school because of the furlough days. I thought the various schools' main priority was educating my children. Are you telling me otherwise? From the tone of your diatribe, I'm guessing you're an educator. Perhaps you should take all of your complaints to the school board since we (the parents) are tapped out between Measure C, the never-ending "donations," class fees, supplies, etc.
Ron Cleary
4:37 pm on Friday, November 18, 2011
That's what we need, more teacher collaboration days. Let's see, I'll tell my company I need a "Sales collaboration" day, no sales calls.
Drew McAlister
4:46 pm on Friday, November 18, 2011
The cuts referred to our not final. These are based on projections from the LAO with another set of numbers coming in the next couple of weeks. The decision on the trigger will happen Dec 15th. Still, regardless of what the final cut, our District has done an incredible job managing through this fiscal crisis and deserves kudo's.
Karey
8:53 pm on Sunday, November 20, 2011
Agreed. Not all districts have faired well at all.
Beau Hunk
10:10 am on Saturday, November 19, 2011
The deeper the cuts, the better. There will never be real reform until the pain is intolerable.
Get rid of the teacher's union.
Do away with tenure.
Ron Cleary
8:17 pm on Tuesday, November 22, 2011
For Kerry !! And after all your hard work, 2 weeks off for Christmas, 1 week off for Thanksgiving, 8-10 weeks for summer, etc., etc. Best of all you have Tenure, can't get fired. What a deal, congrats. Quit your whining !!!!!! And stay away from the Union....
Dan Erboy
8:42 am on Wednesday, November 23, 2011
And there it was, the typical unionized teacher rant... "You don't know what it is like... I have to deal with parents, prepare kids for test, deal with budget cuts and make copies!" Karey is correct. A lot of us don't know what it is like to be a teacher. You don't know what it is like to work only 180 out of the year, work days that amount to less than seven hours a day, have several days of collaboration and minimum days with students, receive automatic step and repeat pay increases that are not based on merit, receive vacation days /sick days that accumulate and roll over, weekends off, have a guaranteed job for life after two years, and, have the security of pensions and health benefits for life. Nope, I don't live in that world, but I do pay for it.
Kimberley Gilles
6:26 pm on Sunday, December 4, 2011
I am a teacher at Monte Vista High School and I love it there. As I scroll through the comments above, I am horrified. When did teachers and the community they serve become adversaries? We all want what is best for children. We all want teachers to have working conditions that permit them to be creative and effective. We all want schools where children are safe and honored. And we all understand that crowded schools do, indeed, make that harder. When did we reach the point where we could no longer listen to one another? Why are we so quick to blame? We all have valuable perspectives and experiences. Abusing one another and choosing sides is NOT going to help. There are no easy answers. Let's go to school board meetings. Let's show up at PTSA meetings and plays and games and debate tournaments. And let's have coffee afterwards. :) We will all be so much more effective as a TEAM. That is what I have learned in 25 years of teaching.
Ron Cleary
5:23 pm on Monday, December 5, 2011
Kimberly. I agree with alot of what your saying. The problem is the PTA is in bed with the Union. The Union is killing the education profession. I taught for 8 years, I have a little experience. Tenure is allowing poor teachers to stay on the payroll, costing districts millions. Brown and Tolaksen just turned down 47 million aid to schools, Union doesn't like requirements this federal loan. Who runs the schools, Teachers and Parents. No, the Union does. All the best. I bet your one of the 70 per cent that are doing a great job. Ron Cleary
Dan Erboy
11:58 pm on Sunday, December 18, 2011
Rose colored glasses Kimberley. Do you really think parents have options? Are kids safe and honored and put first? Come on. Don't you get why people are upset? The taxpayers foot the bill for a system that fails. The school district holds parents hostage and the kids are their pawns. Parents don't have choices and they have to play the game and put the moral compass away to be sure that their children get decent teachers.Write your checks,volunteer and don't rock the boat and, just maybe, your have bought insurance that your kid won't get a bad teacher. Become a member of the PTA and support the Teachers Unions agenda and then everyone go have coffee together! Public education is a monopoly and is failing our children. If parents had choices, vouchers would be in place, charter schools would be started and less than par teachers would be fired. It's a wicked game of chess and the district knows that it holds the King.