HUNTINGTON BEACH : District’s Budget Deficit Cut in Half

Once on the verge of closing three schools, the Ocean View School District has cut its budget deficit in half, district officials said this week.

A moderate enrollment increase, strong interest rates on district investments and deep cuts made a year ago have sliced Ocean View’s deficit to $538,000, district officials estimated in outlining their spring budget revisions for the Board of Trustees.

Although school districts statewide are bracing for deep cuts proposed by Gov. Pete Wilson, “our budget picture appears manageable,” Supt. Monte McMurray said.

The optimistic report marks a turnaround since last June, when the school board weighed closing three of its 17 schools to shrink a deficit estimated then at $1.4 million.

Increased enrollment has helped, officials said, because state funding is based partly on daily attendance figures.

The district enrolled 140 more students than it had a year ago. And, although that indicates a moderate increase for the 8,500-student district, it marks a clear reversal of an enrollment pattern that had plummeted from 14,500 in 1975.

The budget has also been buoyed by $326,000 in one-time state grants received this year, mainly for textbook purchases, said Jon Spang, the district’s director of fiscal services.

Still, the district must dip into its reserves to cover the remaining deficit, Spang said. Also, the governor’s proposal to cancel this year’s cost-of-living increases to schools threatens the district’s ability to raise salaries for teachers and other other employees, McMurray said.

The district’s 1991-92 budget is now being prepared. The board is expected to consider adopting the plan in late May.