School Board Approves $37-Million Budget Cut

After dozens of hours of public hearings and listening to hundreds of speakers, the San Diego Unified School District’s board Tuesday approved $37 million in budget cuts affecting everything from programs for likely dropouts to the switchboard operator.

While the board approved in one swift motion $31.9 million of cuts from the $600-million budget, the trustees over the last few weeks have agonized over the remaining $5 million in reductions, finally acting Tuesday to take $892,265 more from a central office that had already had $7 million of its $35-million budget trimmed.

“People will not realize what has gone away until July 1 (the end of the fiscal year) and the central office is not as responsive and not as helpful . . . as what people have come to expect,” Supt. Tom Payzant said.

All told, 186 positions will be eliminated, representing everything from clerks to counselors to custodians.

“You can’t come up with a $37-million reduction package and expect that things will continue the way they were before,” Payzant said. Payzant said he hopes early retirement incentives, attrition and reassignment will allow the district to actually lay off very few employees, but he could not elaborate.

Trustees also found $1.4 million in reductions by adjusting the teacher allotments, effectively reducing the amount of teaching time without laying off teachers. Cuts in consultants, travel and conferences accounted for $122,003.

Perhaps the highest-profile, if not the largest, cut came in athletics, as the board eliminated junior varsity wrestling and junior varsity girl’s volleyball, accounting for $54,000, far short of the originally proposed $200,000 cut in a $1.6-million budget.

“I think it was, finally, in the end, fair. Something had to be cut . . . and they took a stand on what programs to cut like they should,” said Dee Queen, a parent and member of the University City High School boosters club.

Queen said she was confident that the cuts in volleyball and wrestling could be accommodated at the club sports level. Ticket prices for all sports will go up $1, however, increasing revenue by $40,000.

However, those supporting programs aimed at students at risk of dropping out of school gave the board low marks, pointing to the 28% cut for programs such as Advancement via Individual Determination, or AVID. The program is designed to keep poor and minority students from dropping out.

“They’re breaking the backs of the under-represented students,” said Walter Kudumu, director of the Center for Parent Involvement in Education, a nonprofit organization based in Southeast San Diego.

“The whole process has shown me that he who lobbies the best gets the most,” Kudumu said, referring to the large contingent supporting athletic programs.

Board President Shirley Weber agreed, saying: “Those people who squawked the loudest for athletics got support.”

Also spared were 32 nurses, 16 elementary instrumental music teachers and 13 counselors, all of whom were slated to be cut under the budget presented by Payzant last month.

“I’m just incredibly relieved,” said Mary Magnuson, a nurse at George Dewey and Sequia Elementary schools. “I feel pleased with the board’s level of knowledge as far as what a nurse does.”

Amid the long list of budget cuts came two points of good news, with lottery revenue projections rising $600,000 because of last week’s $115-million jackpot, and an adjustment in the projected increase in medical insurance costs, saving $1 million. Lottery revenue, however, is still substantially lower than last year, and medical insurance costs are still rising 16% over this year.

Cuts passed in the $31.9-million reduction package included $7 million at the district’s central office, $4 million cut from the $13.6 million in instructional supplies budget, $4 million from the $81-million budgeted for the special education program and $2.3 million in deferred maintenance (added to $49 million in already unfunded but needed repairs).