Huntington Beach Schools Cut Next Year’s Budget by $805,500
The Huntington Beach Unified School District board voted to slash next year’s budget by $805,500 as a result of declining student enrollment.
The cuts, which include eliminating 14 jobs and a host of administrative services, were made in anticipation of the district losing another 460 students next year.
The board had considered a $1.2-million budget reduction, but chose to defer some of the cost-cutting measures until they were “absolutely necessary,” according to district spokeswoman Catherine McGough.
Some of the budget cuts and their estimated savings include the elimination of laundry services for student towels and uniforms ($60,000); eliminating one administrative position and one secretary in the instructional division ($69,000), and having assistant principals teach one class in order to reduce class size and pay them through lottery funds ($80,000).
“If all of our budget predictions come through,” McGough said, “we are still going to have a shortage in our general fund to pay for existing programs, personnel and services. I would assume we would have to bail that out with additional lottery money.”
The district received $1.02 million in lottery funds last month and expects to get two allocations totaling another $1 million by summer.
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