School Districts Say Cuts Threaten Programs : Budget: Officials form a coalition and appeal to Gov. Deukmejian to raise the cost-of-living allocation to 4.8%.

Officials from four eastern Ventura County school districts said Tuesday that their districts face a potential financial crisis that could threaten their survival if the state budget proposed by Gov. George Deukmejian is approved.

The officials said if they are given a 3% cost-of-living adjustment, as the budget proposes, instead of a 4.8% increase reflecting the actual anticipated cost increases in the next year, they will have to slash funding for some programs.

Although some district officials said they have not decided which programs may have to be cut, reductions could affect some extracurricular activities, job training programs and those that provide help for potential dropouts. Decreased funding would also affect everything from class size to facilities.

Officials from the Conejo Valley, Simi Valley, Oak Park and Moorpark unified districts presented the bleak picture at a news conference in Thousand Oaks. They were joined by a representative of the Las Virgenes Unified School District in Los Angeles County.

Collectively, the five districts, which represent 50,000 students, stand to lose more than $3.5 million in state funding next year if they receive the 3% cost-of-living adjustment.

The loss in revenue comes at a time when several Ventura County districts are already facing budget shortfalls. The Simi Valley district has decided to lay off 32 temporary teachers and reassign some administrators to lower-paying positions to offset a projected $8.5-million shortfall.

Budget shortfalls have not been restricted to schools. Last week, Deukmejian announced that the state is expecting a $3.6-billion budget shortfall for the 1990-91 fiscal year.

In recent years, schools have received budgetary increases from the state that kept pace with the cost-of-living increases projected by the Commission on State Finance. This year, however, state officials have proposed an increase less than the inflation rate because of the projected state shortfall.

The effect of the state’s projected budget on school districts “has been very, very disappointing--it’s been miserable, as a matter of fact,” said Helen Beebe, board president of the Simi Valley Unified District.

“We had anticipated a continuance” of the statutory cost-of-living increase of 4.8%, Beebe said. “We had anticipated funding for programs that were mandated upon us in prior years. We had not anticipated cutbacks in these areas. The erosion of funding has caused us all to suffer a budgetary crunch that is very, very difficult, and if it gets any worse it could be almost non-survivable.”

If the funding decline continues, some districts could eventually face bankruptcy, Beebe said, “and you may be looking at five of them right here.” The five districts have formed a coalition, called the Suburban Schools State Budget Coalition of Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. After Tuesday’s news conference, the coalition, along with school representatives from Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, planned to hand-deliver a letter to Deukmejian expressing their concerns about the budget.

“We cannot wait until June and July to plan next year’s programs and staffing,” the letter said. “We are moving forward in a cutting mode which is disastrous for morale and the continuity of education. Therefore, there is an urgency in amending the proposed budget.”

In a position statement, the coalition urged the full 4.8% cost-of-living increase and recommended that existing school programs continue to be fully funded before any new programs are begun.

“We believe this is possible by rearranging existing funding priorities within the budget and without exceeding the total dollar allotment the governor has already set aside for education,” the letter said.

The letter was signed by representatives of the board, teachers’ groups, management and classified employees from each district.

At the news conference, officials also decried the use of funds from Proposition 98, which was intended to give schools more tax revenues in exchange for better accountability, and from the California Lottery. Money from Proposition 98, for example, which was intended to fund supplemental educational programs, has in some cases been used for basic expenses such as medical insurance, officials said.

“They were intended to be used as icing on the cake,” said Karen Lough, a science teacher and president of the Las Virgenes Educators Assn. “That has not happened.”

Statewide, the lottery generates about 3% of total school revenues.

Officials said the proposed budget cuts come at a bad time because many districts, including Moorpark and Oak Park, are facing enrollment increases and need new schools.

Oak Park Supt. Susan Hearn said a new elementary school was built in her district only last year, but just this week officials had to place two portable classrooms on the campus to accommodate growth.