Sell
Research and Tools
Parts & Service
- Auto Parts
- Service & Repair
- Quick Searches
- Auto Repair
- Oil Change
VUSD trustees look at ways to reduce budget
By: STACY BRANDT - North County Times
Cutbacks could delay opening of magnet high school
| ∞
VISTA - Facing a grim outlook for next year's budget, Vista Unified School District trustees discussed ways to trim money from the district's budget, including delaying the opening of a long-awaited magnet high school campus in eastern Oceanside.
The discussion was part of a special meeting the district held Monday to address the dire budget proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger earlier this month. The district may have to cut between $5 million and $15 million of its roughly $200 million annual budget next year, said Pam Hayden, the district's chief financial officer.
"These cuts are drastic and really unprecedented," Hayden said at the meeting. "I cannot stress enough the dire position we are in."
District officials were planning to spend roughly $204 million during the 2008-09 school year, but are now projecting they will get only $196 million.
Though it's unclear exactly how much the district will get next year, Hayden said it's best to plan for the worst.
"We have to plan," she said. "We can't just sit back, wait and hope for the best."
Trustees and school officials said they want to keep cuts as far away from the classroom as possible and avoid layoffs.
"I would like us to do everything we can to protect these people," Trustee Carol Herrera said about district employees.
District officials already have more or less stopped hiring and other spending, such as travel for conferences and training, Hayden said.
Until recently, district officials had planned to open Mission Vista High Schools in August. Now, they're saying that because of numerous delays, the school probably won't be ready until September, which might require the district to rent generators to power the classrooms.
If the district holds off on opening that school, starting up a small campus for expelled students and expanding its magnet middle school, it could cut roughly $2.3 million from next year's budget deficit, Hayden said.
"I think this is something that we can all live with for a year, if we have to," said David Hubbard, one of three trustees who have pushed to open the controversial high school campus near the intersection of Highway 76 and Melrose Drive in Oceanside.
Hubbard brought up the possibility of opening the schools for 500 freshmen on the downtown Vista site that used to be Lincoln Middle School and now houses the small Vista Magnet Middle School. Still, even that would cost money, because the aging classrooms in the 70-year-old building would need work, said Donna Caperton, chief operations officer for the district.
The trustees said they expect to discuss the issue at more length at their next meeting February 21.
Vista Unified is not alone with its budget woes. Educators across the state have said they would have to hack millions of dollars from their annual budgets because of Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposed budget, which calls for across-the-board cuts to most state agencies.
"This is a very serious situation for not only Vista (Unified), but the whole state of California," Hayden said. "It's going to be very, very painful."
Contact staff writer Stacy Brandt at (760) 901-4009 or sbrandt@nctimes.com.
More Stories
Vista Teacher wrote on Jan 29, 2008 5:18 AM:I'm confused! David Hubbard fought very hard to prevent the Magnet High School from "Starting Up" at the Lincoln site. Now, he is suggesting the option? ...
Solution wrote on Jan 29, 2008 6:21 AM:Require students to show proof of citizenship before teaching them or giving them a free lunch or free pre-school or any other “special” services.
Sam wrote on Jan 29, 2008 9:32 AM:This is a rip off, and the biggest fiasco I have ever seen. How much is it going to cost to bus all the kids there. No one lives close to the nite mare. The school is so far up in the air, it might as well be on another planet. People, this is what happens to your tax dollars;(School Bonds). Think twice when a school bond comes up on a ballot. If any proposition costs money, vote NO. I think the VUSD is a perfect example of Waste.
Observer wrote on Jan 29, 2008 10:19 AM:says, you noticed the change of where the magnet highschool could be opened. How very strange when he fought so vociferously to avoid it! For what will be invested in the Dual Magnet a new two story building plus more could have been built at Lincoln and NO blasting!
A Breath of Common Sense wrote on Jan 29, 2008 10:36 AM:As to suggesting Lincoln, I guess it had to be Hubbard, since he was such a staunch supporter of the 76 / Melrose site, and if any one else did, it would look like sour grapes. But they don't have the "best and final" yet, so they don't even know the total price tag for 76 / Melrose, or whether they have it; there's practically nothing extra left in the bond. Not a worry when they could make it up from the general fund, but that obviously won't be possible now. ModTech is supposed to deliver the modulars next week; why not have some of them go to Lincoln, and save the Lincoln renovation money?
Bill wrote on Jan 29, 2008 11:23 AM:reduce the superintendents salary 55% as well as the rest of the administrators 35%. They all do very little and are not not worth any more money.
Stop the Insanity!!! wrote on Jan 29, 2008 12:19 PM:Want some cheese with that whine? School districts across the state have had seven good years riding the gravy train, and school officials now talk about the "dire position" they're in because they have to trim some of the accumulated fat. Please. Give me a break. There is ZERO correlation between financial inputs and educational outputs, so cutting 5 percent from the operating budget won't have any impact on student learning anyway.
Tired of VUSD wrote on Jan 29, 2008 3:03 PM:If they can't come through on this magnet, we are pulling our kids out of VUSD. There is nothing but corruption and poor schools.
My Roosevelt middle schooler has earned "grade points" for things like bringing in canned goods and the latest was if they wore clothing with "Chargers" logos. Not to mention the "coloring" homework projects graded on "art" for things like social studies and history.
What a joke!
LarryMoe wrote on Jan 29, 2008 5:50 PM:How about cutting the Lindamood-Bell or Successmaker Computer Learning budgets? How many millions have Bales and her "Pals from Pueblo" sunk into these programs? Any chance this might help the budget crunch? How would you like to be the one who suggests this option? You'd be joining the other former administrators who have "voluntarily" moved on before the sun went down, I guarantee. By the way, why don't they pare down the "Pueblo Pipeline" and eliminate a few of the new administrative positions that Bales created for her "Colorado Cronies"? Do you think these ideas will be given fair consideration? I don't.
To LarryMoe wrote on Jan 29, 2008 6:58 PM:Why not add 5 students to each classroom, raising the number from 25 to 30. That would cut the Teaching Budget by 20% (teacher salries are nearly 80$ of the budget)? I know, the complaint is that this would hurt the students quality of education. But, as we are already near the bottom in the state how much more coudl it really hurt? Besides, if you incresed class-size you could possible close down and sell as many as two full schools. What a boon for the budget (decreased operating costs, decreased salaries for teachers and administrators) and it would provide enough money to finish the Melrose Project, which could then be partially sold to Bonsall to help them with their needed High School (a Dual District, Dual Magnet, High Schools)! Now there is a thought!
and curly too wrote on Jan 29, 2008 7:45 PM:lay-off some of the administrators, cut their salaries, lay-off 1/2 managers and co-ordinators, maximize class size so that they can lay-off teachers, cut counselors, speech therapists and psychologists in half. Keep the buses, keep the schools clean and the libraries open. Keep Aides, and the bare bones clerical staff. Classified folks are probably only 15% of the budget. Cut from the TOP down.
huh? wrote on Jan 29, 2008 9:22 PM:To "To LarryMoe" - what classrooms do you think have just 25 kids? The 1-3 grade classes have 20, and they receive extra funding from the state to maintain them at that level - funding they would lose if they increased class sizes at that level. There might be a few classes with 25 kids, but most of them are at the limit which is 34 or 35. And if you don't think overcrowding the classrooms will hurt anything, then I'm guessing you don't have kids in any of those classes.
Come and See wrote on Jan 30, 2008 5:07 AM:To all of those people out there who have never stepped inside of a classroom - whether it's elementary, middle or high school, please come and see for yourself. Walk down a hallway during the sprint bell and see how long it takes you to get from one side of the building to the other. In high schools there are as many as 38 students in a given classroom. So many people believe what they are told by a single source without doing the work for themselves, and in the end the biggest losers are the kids because teachers are not supported by its community. How really sad.
First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, e-mail addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. Attempts to misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person will not be approved. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.
Today's Stories
Advertisement