District Cites ‘Emergency,’ Seeks Cuts : Schools: Officials propose to use up reserve funds. Plan forestalls layoffs, but superintendent says they will happen.

The Los Angeles Unified School District on Tuesday unveiled $88 million in proposed onetime, emergency budget cuts that stopped short of recommending layoffs for this academic year. Schools Supt. Bill Anton warned that next fall would bring numerous layoffs in order to avoid bankruptcy of the nation’s second-largest school district.

“We’re not going to go into receivership,” Anton said. Balancing the 1991-92 budget “might mean we have to cut entire divisions. . . . There will be major restructuring. There will have to be a substantial reduction in force and that’s people.”

This year’s proposed cuts included depleting the district’s entire $31.5-million emergency reserve, which must be replenished by next year to comply with state law. Staff members also recommended using $10 million kept in reserve as part of a program to subsidize school lunches for needy students and saving $9.3 million by not filling vacant positions, such as office managers and custodians.

District officials, who say that lower-than-expected lottery revenues may force them to cut an additional $20 million from the annual $3.8-billion budget by June 30, called their financial straits “an emergency.”

“We’re beyond bare bones, we’re scraping at the marrow,” Anton said.

The district will hold a public hearing on the proposed cuts Feb. 21 and vote at its March 4 meeting.

At Tuesday’s informational meeting, school board member Mark Slavkin, who represents the Westside, raised concerns that the proposed cuts failed to address the need to restructure the entire school district.

“We’ve avoided the discussion that has to occur on the larger range of issues,” Slavkin said, pressing the district staff for a more comprehensive and long-range financial plan.

Anton said plans to restructure the school district and lay off employees will be outlined in the next two months as budget officials begin to plan the 1991-92 budget.

The superintendent also warned that numerous layoffs might be necessary as early as this spring to keep the school district from going into bankruptcy. The district spends 84.5% of its budget on salaries and benefits for about 58,000 employees.

District officials who drew up this year’s budget reductions have acknowledged that their proposed cuts are the fiscal equivalent of putting Band-Aids on a hemorrhage.

“We’ve gone over this budget with a fine-tooth comb,” said Robert Booker, the district’s chief business and financial officer. “We’ve attempted to keep these cuts away from people and people-type cuts.”

Administrators said the cuts would not affect instruction or hurt needy students. The $10 million from the cafeteria fund wipes out the cafeteria’s emergency reserve for this year but will not affect the price or availability of meals, said Dave Koch, a division administrator for business services.

Other savings proposed for this year include:

* Using state funds and developers’ fees to pay for $20 million in construction costs that now come out of the district’s general fund.

* Issuing $6.3 million in certificates of participation, which resemble bonds and can be paid back over several years, to build projects now charged to the district’s general fund.

* Withholding $5.3 million in state funds earmarked for schools that switch to multitrack, year-round programs. The state money, which averages $25 per student, is normally used to provide extra staff and services to such schools but can be spent or withheld at the district’s discretion.

* Collecting a $3-million reimbursement from the state for lowering the class size in junior English classes from 35 pupils per teacher to 20 pupils in accordance with a new state law.

* Saving $500,000 by using administrators and district staff who hold teaching credentials as substitute teachers as needed for up to three days.