Carlsbad district gears up for budget fight

By: PHILIP K. IRELAND - Staff Writer
Officials looking for ways to address governor's proposed cuts | Tuesday, January 29, 2008 10:24 PM PST ∞

CARLSBAD -- School officials in Carlsbad say they are formulating a three-pronged response to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed education cuts that includes lobbying state legislators to resist the governor, sweet-talking local sources for donations, and sharpening the budget scythe for drastic classroom cuts.

Carlsbad schools Superintendent John Roach announced the initiative last week and asked for help from district trustees and staff.

Citing a projected $14 billion budget shortfall over the next 18 months, Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal emergency during his State of the State address Jan. 10. He ordered most state agencies to gird for what he described as a 10 percent reduction in expected state funding. That number was based on what agencies received this year and the increases they expect next year.

The budget crisis means public schools will get $4.4 billion less than anticipated in the 2008-09 budget year, which begins July 1, Schwarzenegger said.

In response, Carlsbad Unified School District officials said they would need to cut $4.5 million from their 2008-09 budget. The depth of the cuts will undoubtedly impact students directly, board President Elisa Williamson said Monday.

Cost-cutting approach

In Carlsbad, the job of identifying potential cuts and predicting their effect falls to a new district committee called the State Fiscal Emergency Working Group, led by Suzanne O'Connell, assistant superintendent of instruction.

Officials said that they will try to keep the cuts as far away from the classroom as possible but that educational quality will still suffer.

"Frankly, I see no easy cuts, which means every dollar cut is going to negatively impact our students and staff," Williamson said.

Carlsbad Unified will consider a variety of options, including laying off employees, increasing class sizes and reviewing whether all 14 schools in the district are needed.

"Nothing's sacred," O'Connell said.

The new committee will create an unranked list of potential cuts and impacts for the superintendent, who will ultimately decide on reductions, O'Connell said.

Specific members of the group -- a mix of parents, administrators, teachers and support staff -- have not yet been selected, O'Connell said. District professionals from various departments will be available to provide information and analysis.

The 10-member group will meet weekly to search all district programs for ways to trim costs.

"We'll put the minutes on the Web site," O'Connell said. "We want transparency. We want everyone to know what we're looking at."

Lobbying for change

While O'Connell organizes the cost-cutting committee, trustees are beginning their campaign to rally state lawmakers against Schwarzenegger's to plan to suspend Proposition 98 -- a voter-approved measure to guarantee minimum funding for public schools in times of economic uncertainty. Legislators can suspend Prop. 98 with a two-thirds majority vote in the Assembly and Senate.

Trustees Lisa Rodman and Kelli Moors said they will host a meeting of local activists this week to lay out strategies for convincing legislators to oppose Schwarzenegger's plan. Roach said that as elected officials themselves, trustees stand a better chance of swaying legislators.

Just 14 of the 40 state senators would be enough to override the suspension of Prop 98, Roach noted.

During the school board meeting last week, Rodman suggested gathering local "movers and shakers" to coordinate lobbying efforts.

Moors said she will head up a more "backdoor" approach by scheduling individual meetings with local lawmakers such as Sens. Mark Wyland, R-Carlsbad; Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego; and Denise Ducheny, D-San Diego.

Rallying local money

The district's third plan of attack involves raising money to backfill the state cuts. Carol Van Vooren, principal of Jefferson Elementary, volunteered to lead the effort.

"I'm eating, drinking and sleeping this problem right now -- I'm missing highway exits thinking about it," said Van Vooren on Monday.

As a first step, she said she will work to unify the fundraising groups that funnel money to Carlsbad schools to create an ongoing revenue stream rather than a one-time rescue.

"I want a sustainable source rather than an emergency one-time thing -- not a Band-Aid, but a viable, lasting program," Van Vooren said Monday.

The upbeat principal said she thought for a few hours about the damage cuts would do, then decided to take a more positive tack on the problem.

Although $4.5 million sounds like a lot of money, Van Vooren said, the sum equates to just $410 a year, or $40 a month, or just $2 per student per day in Carlsbad.

"It seems more manageable that way," she said. "People spend that much every day."

Contact Philip K. Ireland at (760) 901-4043 or pireland@nctimes.com. Comment at nctimes.com.

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