Legislature Passes Bill to Help Schools Losing Pupils

In a last ditch effort to help school districts facing budget shortfalls because of declining enrollment, the Legislature late Wednesday night approved a bill that provides nearly $13 million in relief to about 260 school districts across the state, including $3.5 million for Orange County schools.

The bill, which also designates $3.5 million for community colleges with dwindling student bodies, allocates just a portion of the $37 million to school districts that its sponsors originally sought. Sen. Robert Beverly (R-Manhattan Beach), who introduced the measure, said he scaled it back in hopes of persuading Gov. George Deukmejian to sign it.

“He has not expressed any great support for it to date,” Beverly said after the Senate unanimously approved the bill shortly before midnight Wednesday. “But I am hopeful we can negotiate and discuss it.”

An analysis by the Department of Finance of an earlier version of the bill recommended that Deukmejian oppose the declining-enrollment provisions. The department has not yet taken a position on the version passed by the Legislature since the $16.5 million was added to it Tuesday night.

A spokeswoman for the governor said Thursday that Deukmejian has made no decision about the legislation.

Although the bill contains only rough estimates of how the money would be distributed, 11 school districts in Orange County are tentatively slated to receive about $3.5 million, and districts in Los Angeles County about $1.7 million. Los Angeles, Long Beach and El Camino community colleges would get a total of about $2 million.

Anaheim Union High School District Supt. Cynthia F. Grennan described the legislation as a “godsend.” Over the past 15 years, Grennan said, the district has lost 17,000 students. This year, she said, the district, which now has 20,250 students, has cut 86 staff positions because of falling enrollment.

“Quality education is going to cost money,” Grennan said. “We cannot continue to make these kinds of cuts and be as accountable (to the public) as we try to be.”

Many of Orange County’s 29 school districts, primarily those in the older central and northern county cities, have experienced declining enrollments during the past decade as “baby boom” children graduated.

The high school districts, the last to feel the impact of declining enrollment, have been among those most affected. It is expected to be at least several years before the current baby boomlet makes a difference.

Anaheim Union High School District is tentatively scheduled to get more than $700,000, as is the Fullerton Union High School District. The Huntington Beach Union School District, which is expected to be down 1,285 full-time students when school begins next week, would receive nearly $1.2 million if the bill is signed into law as the Legislature passed it.

Tentative amounts for other Orange County school districts range from about $280,000 for Orange Unified to about $47,000 for Saddleback Unified.

Statewide, school officials in districts with falling enrollment have appealed to the state for special assistance to meet shortfalls. Each year, districts receive state funds to operate, but the money is distributed based on the number of students in the district. Officials in schools with declining enrollments complain that their operating expenses remain high even when their student populations are shrinking.

Previous Cuts Cited

“We still need to keep the high schools open,” said Walter Hale, superintendent of the South Bay Union High School District, which lost 435 of its 3,600 students last year. “You can’t close the gymnasium, the swimming pool or the classrooms.”

School officials said they are in a bind this year in particular because Deukmejian cut money for districts with falling enrollments from last year’s budget. Funds in this year’s budget were cut in July by the Legislature, meaning the districts will again go empty-handed if Beverly’s legislation is vetoed.

“The bottom line is that districts like ours are in big trouble,” said Lee Eastwood, superintendent of the Whittier Union High School District, which lost 430 students last year and expects to lose 300 more this year. Based on the estimates, Whittier would get about $440,000--the largest chunk of money headed for schools in Los Angeles County. Eastwood said Whittier’s proposed $41-million budget has an $800,000 deficit that assures “we are going to be scrambling all year” even with the extra money.

NEW FUNDS FOR SCHOOLS

Orange County school districts and the amounts they are likely to receive under legislation providing relief for districts with declining enrollment.:

School District Amount Anaheim Union $ 734,119 Fullerton Union 733,060 Garden Grove Unified 107,818 Hunt. Beach Union 1,196,283 Laguna Beach Unified 52,104 Los Alamitos Unified 48,764 Newport-Mesa Unified 105,544 Orange Unified 282,685 Placentia Unified 63,540 Saddleback Unified 47,428 Tustin Unified 82,164