ABC Schools May Cut Sports, Increase Class Size

The ABC Unified School District board will discuss a list of 33 proposed budget cuts at a public hearing at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The list includes eliminating junior high school extracurricular sports, reducing senior high school extracurricular sports, taking back the remainder of this year’s state lottery money from individual schools, increasing all district class sizes which would permit the elimination of 33 teachers’ jobs and laying off more than 30 non-teaching employees.

The proposed cuts were presented to the school board at a special meeting Jan. 24 to reduce a projected deficit of $2 million for the 1987-88 fiscal year. The school district had originally anticipated receiving a cost-of-living increase of 2.2% from the state, but has interpreted Gov. George Deukmejian’s new budget as providing only a 1.1% increase, thus creating the projected deficit, according to Terry McAlpine, schools spokesman.

More cuts may be necessary later. The current budget does not take into account salary increases for district employees, which will be negotiated in June, and which will cost the district $535,000 for each 1% increase. Salary increases, including a 5% increase this year, have been approved yearly in the past, according to Virgil L. Hall, assistant superintendent for business services. School Board member Homer Lewis said there is “no reason” not to expect an increase for the next school year as well.

Tuesday’s regular school board meeting has been changed from 7 to 7:30 p.m. to accommodate the public hearing, which will be held in the board room at the district offices at 16700 S. Norwalk Blvd., Cerritos.

Tentative Proposals

McAlpine said no priorities have been set for the proposed cuts, but the board hopes to “make the cuts as far from the classroom as possible.” The board will decide on tentative recommendations Tuesday, and will make its final recommendations Feb. 17.

The 1986-87 school budget is for $83 million. The budget for the coming year has not yet been written.

Proposed budget cuts include:

Using what remains of the 1986-87 lottery money to reduce the 1987-88 deficit. This would give the district an extra $440,000. Programs already supported by the lottery at the district level would continue (although some of these programs appear individually on the proposed cut list for next year), but the proposal would take back discretionary money allocated to individual schools this year.

Eliminating junior high school extracurricular sports, which would save the district $82,000, and reducing the number of high school extracurricular sports, which could save up to $202,000. No specific high school sports have been targeted.

Increasing the size of all classes districtwide by one student, which would eliminate 36 teachers for a savings of $700,000.

Reducing custodial costs by cleaning elementary schools every other day instead of daily, and reducing high school night cleaning crews by one employee each for a savings of $330,000.

Eliminating campus supervision, for a savings of $339,000.

Eliminating supplemental funding for programs such as bilingual education and ESL (English as a second language), for a savings of $222,500.

“Drastically” reducing educator and administrator conferences and conventions. The 1986-87 budget for this category is $278,000.

McAlpine said the projected cuts are “just a list of possibilities. There has been no board or public input as yet.”

Lewis said he is more interested in cutting back on what he called “Cadillac programs, where we’re spending more than we should,” rather than eliminating any programs altogether. However, he said that cutting extracurricular sports is a “definite possibility.”

One item on the list Lewis said he would like to protect is apportioning lottery funds as discretionary money to individual schools. “I think the lottery funds should go to the schools,” he said. “I think the initial idea of the lottery mandates that.”