SANTA PAULA : School District Cuts Budget to Sell Bonds

The Santa Paula Elementary School District board agreed Thursday to trim at least $500,000 from its 1991-92 budget so it can raise a needed $2 million by issuing bonds.

In a resolution declaring that it would make the cuts, the board acknowledged that the school system overspent its 1990-91 budget by about $900,000 and needs to sell as much as $2 million in bonds to keep from going broke.

District Supt. Dave Phillips said the cuts are needed to assure investors that the bonds would be repaid.

“They need to have a commitment that the district is solvent,” Phillips said. To do that, the district needs to demonstrate its ability to pay back the loans by balancing its budget, he said.

The bonds would be paid back over 10 years from developer fees and the district’s general fund, Phillips said.

Officials did not specify where the cuts would be made. The $2 million raised from bonds would pay for projects that have already begun, including rebuilding portions of two schools and buying more portable classrooms, Phillips said. The bonds are expected to go on sale in April.