VC district closes school, proposes $2.1 million in cuts
By: SHAYNA CHABNER - Staff Writer | ∞
ESCONDIDO ---- Trustees for the Valley Center-Pauma Unified School district voted Wednesday night to close a second school at the end of the year as part of an ongoing effort to slash more than $2 million in expenditures from next year's budget.
The unanimous decision to shutter the Upper Elementary School and relocate fifth-graders and sixth-graders to nearby campuses followed a vote by the board earlier this month to close the old Palomar Mountain schoolhouse.
"It was bittersweet, and it was sad," Superintendent Lou Obermeyer said Thursday. "We knew that it was going to be a savings."
Closing the elementary campus, which serves about 440 students, is expected to save the district about $421,136 next year. That eliminates several salaries, including those of a principal, a secretary, support staff and custodians, and about $38,000 in utility fees.
The proposal was one of many cost-saving recommendations presented to trustees Wednesday. The district is wrestling with a loss of revenue from declining enrollment and a significant reduction in state funding for next school year.
In January, the governor presented a proposal to cut roughly $4.4 billion in spending on education statewide to offset a deficit ---- which the nonpartisan legislative analyst has most recently pegged at $16 billion ---- in the fiscal year beginning July 1.
Under the governor's proposal, the 4,400-student district is poised to lose roughly $1.9 million in revenue from the current fiscal year's funding of about $39.9 million, district business manager Pam Moe said.
A decline in enrollment for the sixth year in a row, though, will push the school's funding shortfall to about $2.96 million, Moe said.
She added that the district is hoping to trim at least about $2.1 million from next year's budget to ease the financial strain on the district and its reserves of about $3.9 million. Expenditures that exceed the district's revenues will be covered by its reserves.
The district's recommendations, which trustees reviewed Wednesday and will be voting on next Wednesday, included laying off an adult school administrator and about 21 teachers and other certified employees. The district also projected cutting expenditures by using biodesiel produced by middle school students in its buses, leaving a health clerk and a custodial position vacant, and retiring an handful of other employees.
District officials said they saved about $22,000 in utility fees for the 2008-09 school year by closing the Palomar Mountain School.
"It's sad to see it happen ... but it's necessary," said Anne Staffieri, principal of the Upper Elementary School. "We sure understand why it has to happen."
Trustees also voted to relocate Staffieri to serve as the principal of Pauma School, a kindergarten through eighth grade school. Pauma's principal, Mary Gorsuch was named to take over as the district's assistant superintendent of educational services when Ken Clark retires in June.
Trustees approved the administrative reshuffling with a 4-to-1 vote. School board member Doug Dechairo opposed the moves, saying that the district and trustees should discuss the matter further and consider whether any of the positions could have been left vacant in the phase of drastic budget cuts.
Contact staff writer Shayna Chabner at (760) 740-5416 or schabner@nctimes.com.
More Stories
Advertisement
Yachtspy wrote on Feb 29, 2008 12:58 PM:I am an old "fuddy-duddy" I know. At least that is what my children think but, as a former teacher and a former School Board member, I feel that I have a right to comment. First, there is way too much being "taught" in todays schools. You wonder why "Johnny and Juan can't read?" Simply put, they don't read enough and they are not taught English. In stead, they have to listen to some one preach about climate change. If you want children to learn to read, write and do simple math, TEACH IT! There should be reading classes, writing classes, classes emphasizing grammer and spelling. They should learn the "old" math of adding, subraction, fractions, multiplication. If you want to do something practical, as part of the math, teach them how to balance a checkbook. Do these things all day and everyday. Do this, and you teach them how to read complex sentences for meaning because they will know and understand the language. Do this and they will understand numbers and be able to put language skills together with word problems in math. This is the way they will pass the tests. The school administrators need to go
BACK to the basics and re-discover what education is all about. That excersize would help them cut the already inflated budgets. It would make the schools BETTER and the students would learn what is really important in life.
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