Schools Could Lose $1 Million if Lottery Revenues Fall

The Glendale school district, already facing a potential $600,000 shortfall next year, could lose another $1 million this year because state lottery revenues may be lower than anticipated, officials learned last week.

Glendale administrators thought they would receive $170 per student, or about $3.7 million, from lottery funds this year for the district’s $103.5-million budget. But state officials said the schools now should expect only $115 or $135 per student, or about $2.7 million, said David Kanthak, the district’s assistant superintendent of business services.

Supt. Robert Sanchis cautioned that the district will not decide where to make reductions until several factors in the budget process have been determined. For instance, lottery revenues could change, a new governor might allocate more money for schools and Glendale school enrollment probably will continue to rise, Sanchis said.

If the $1-million shortfall occurs, he said, it is not likely that it directly will affect classroom programs.

“We can’t be talking about absolutes right now because there are too many variables we don’t know about,” Sanchis said. The projected shortfall “would require belt-tightening, but probably would not require significant program reductions.”

The district earlier this year had planned to cut $500,000 from the 1990-91 budget and $1.3 million from next year’s budget because of reductions in state funding, Kanthak said.

All but about $600,000 of those shortfalls, however, should be eliminated this year by unanticipated revenues stemming from high enrollment growth, Kanthak said. The district’s current enrollment of about 25,470 students is just under the 25,500-enrollment level expected by April, meaning that growth is likely to surpass projections, he said.