Budget Planning for 2003-04
Q&A on new California Budget (Aug 2003):
- Q: The newspaper reported that the budget cuts to education were less than expected. What does that mean for our district? Also, if we have less cuts than anticipated, what is the process to reinstate items (if any)? We have established that the District uses the budget priority list as a foundation but when would that process start?
A: The cuts were not " less than expected " but rather closely mirrored the Governor's revised (May) budget proposal for education - and this is what we built our district budget on (rather than the earlier proposal that would have been far worse). The "good news" was that it wasn't any worse, after weeks of discussion that either further reductions would occur (per the Republicans) or a tax increase would be needed (per the Democrats). The "bad news" was that they avoided both of these possibilities primarily by shifting $8 billion of the problem to next year so that we have that cloud hanging over us again. We are still waiting for clarifying word on the full impact of the budget agreements. Of particular concern is language in the budget act that will reduce our State categorical funding beyond the reductions that other non-basic aid districts are facing. The language says that basic aid districts, as a group, must have our total categorical funding reduced by approx. $10 million. How this reduction will be proportionately spread and how much will hit our particular district is still to be determined. Therefore, logically, before we can consider any serious restoration discussion we should wait until we see the full impact of the State budget, we see if our parcel tax passes and finally, we see how our parcel tax proceeds come in. Generally this means it will probably be towards the end of the calendar year before we can proceed. When the process does begin the Board has asked for a recommendation to be brought to them for consideration.
Due to budget problems in the state, the California Governor has recommended budget cuts in public education. Under the Governor's initial proposal, the Pacific Grove Unified School District would have lost $3.2 Million next year. (Almost 19% of our current budget.)
The Pacific Grove USD took this into consideration as it planned for the next school year. By March 15, 2003, the District notified any teacher whose position may not exist in the next school year that they might not have a job.
After consultations with district staff, the Superintendent made a budget reduction recommendation to the Board of Education and the public on 2/11/03 for their consideration. It will continue to be reviewed at Board Meetings as needed until a budget is adopted by the end of June.
Through intense lobbying and a wide public campaign, voters let the legislators know the effect of such drastic cuts. The Governor released a revised budget proposal on 5/14/03. The budget analysis group used by school districts statewide commented on the new proposal:
The May Revise Proposal:
1) Basic Aid districts will lose their $120 per student "Basic Aid" stipend. (This is comparable to revenue limit districts being denied their statutory COLA for 2003-04.)
2) Basic Aid districts must reduce their categorical apportionments by an estimated $135 per ADA. (According to the Administrative documents, this is "consistent" with the unrestricted hit on revenue limits - we agree that it is roughly consistent. Although it may not reflect last-minute reductions proposed by the Governor in revenue limit takebacks, they are in the ballpark of our projections.)
3) All school agencies, both Basic Aid and Revenue Limit, will see targeted reductions or eliminations in particular categorical programs. To be sure, even at a "proportional level," these cuts are still deep - this is an extremely difficult budget for all public schools. But we have received what we have asked for.-School Services
In response to questions about our own staff with layoff notices and program reductions, the PG District notes:
"As this news gets out, people should understand that this action has simply confirmed what we were hearing would happen and is the basis for projecting that we may only see a maximum $1 million reduction rather than $3 mill. For now, we are therefore still needing to implement all the reductions in the first two columns of our reduction program - just as we have been saying recently.
"Also any restorations of these reductions will likely only occur after we have a signed State budget and a revised local property tax projection - probably August. We are also still very uncertain as to the impact of what is proposed as a reduction on categorical funding and the elimination of certain programs.
"The idea that we (as a basic aid district) will lose the equivalent of $135/ADA from categorical programs, above and beyond what other districts will be reduced, is a significant concern.
"We do not get a lot of categorical funds to start with and this could be a big reduction - it would, strictly for example purposes, be the equivalent of eliminating the SIP program and more.
"Finally, we are still monitoring the passage of legislation that will have us transfer revenues to charter schools that have "our" students. At this point the bill is still progressing as a phased in program but could change. This will all hopefully be clarified in the coming days and weeks and we will present the information as it becomes available.
"We will be discussing the situation with the Board 5/15/03 and will recommend that they schedule a meeting as soon as possible to consider taking action on the layoff notices - possibly the following Thursday.
-Robin Blakley, Assistant Superintendent for Business
We will post relevant documents here. Documents with a "
PDF" designation require the use of the Free Adobe Acrobat Reader program.
Superintendent's Budget Alert Letter of 5/21/2003
Budget Reduction Recommendations 4/29/2003 PDF
At the study session of 4/29/03 the Board focused on the items that should be in the first 2 columns, with the optimistic hope that, based on information being received from various sources, the State budget may not create a need for reductions beyond $1mill. ( If the reductions are to be deeper then further sessions will occur). No formal action was taken but the attached reflects the changes that were directed based on consensus. The matter is scheduled for formal action on May 1. When action is taken a preliminary budget will be developed based on col 1 and 2 reductions - while we wait for further information from the State.
School Reconfiguration Options PDF (March 6th Version; 660K)
(download time approx. 1:35 @ 56K)
[Revision 3/26/03; change p.5 to indicate Opt. 2 has "Requires AM/PM Kindergarten", not Opt.3]
School Site Maps
Forest Grove Elementary
Robert Down Elementary
Pacific Grove Middle School
Pacific Grove High School
Budget Reduction Recommendations 3/20/2003 PDF
- The table shows the recommended sequence of reductions, up to the worst case scenario, to be considered by the Board at the 3/20 Board Meeting. The yellow shading indicates partial reductions, the blue shows changes made by the Supt. after the committee's recommendation. We still have no reliable information to assume that the reduction will be less than the full impact of the administration's original proposal ( i.e. $3 mill.) since the proposal is still on the table.
State Senate Hearing of Budget Sub-Committee 3/10/03
The sub-committee moved and unanimously approved a motion that:
- Accepted the governor's proposal to remove $120 per student from Basic Aid districts.
- Rejected the administration's proposed "severe cut" slated for Basic Aid districts
- Promises to continue to study what the cuts should be, using "proportionate share" cuts as their guideline. It noted that it did not know how it would accomplish this (whether a flat dollar amount or percentage or from where the funds may come), but hoped this would aid Basic Aid districts when determining what to do in light of the March 15 deadline.
Budget Reduction Recommendations 3/5/2003 PDF
- [Revision of the number of HS teacher reductions (down 6 sections) and MS sections reductions (up 6 sections) after a review of class size issues.]
Superintendent's Budget Alert Letter of 2/28/2003
Budget Reduction Recommendations 2/24/2003 PDF
(few changes, mostly reorganized by site impact)
Budget Reduction Recommendations 2/11/2003 PDF
Superintendent's Budget Alert Letter of 2/7/2003
2003-04 Budget Adoption Calendar
Websites with additional information and resources:
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