During Glendale state of the schools address, a dire budget warning for next year

Glendale Unified Supt. Dick Sheehan forecast a grim year ahead during the eighth annual State of the Schools address Thursday at Edison Elementary.

While celebrating the district’s ability to weather past financial calamities, he acknowledged Glendale teachers who have not seen pay raises since 2007 due to the trials of navigating reduced state funding.

He issued a dire warning for the 2012-13 school year, saying the district would likely have to lay-off teachers and cut other positions in order to clear $10 million in red ink.

“For numerous years now, you have heard ‘the sky is falling,’” Sheehan said. “We as a district are running a $15-million structural deficit.”

The budget slashes will hit the district’s operating budget, where 90% of funds pay for personnel.

About 500 people attended the event, hosted by the Glendale Educational Foundation, and was expected to take in $65,000, according to organizers.

The foundation initiated a “Save the Music” campaign this year to raise $500,000 for music programs across Glendale Unified. They are now halfway to meeting that goal.

“I thought it would probably take us more than one year,” said the foundation’s president, Laurel Patric.

She presented Sheehan with a $100,000 check for the purchase of musical instruments for every elementary school.

She also announced that the Arturo Sandoval Institute would donate to the campaign.

“We’ve got to start kids with it in the elementary schools,” Patric said. “When you listen to the middle school strings and the marching bands, than you see what happens in Glendale.”

The Glendale Educational Foundation would also stay on track to raise $250,000 for its other programs that support health and fitness, and science and technology.

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