SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Trustees OK Budget Restoring Programs

Trustees of the Capistrano Unified School District this week unanimously approved a revised 1991-92 budget, which restores about $1 million in programs cut in the original spending plan.

The district, which in May approved $4 million in cuts in anticipation of drastic reductions in state funding, began discussing which budget items to restore in August after Gov. Pete Wilson backed down from a plan to cut $2 billion from the state education budget.

“Restoring is always better than cutting,” said Carole Bailey, the district’s assistant superintendent of business and fiscal services. “Budgets in California are tough every year because we’re dependent on the state, the Legislature and the governor.”

The Capistrano programs to be restored include a $425,000 outdoor education program for fifth- and sixth-graders.

The program allows all of the district’s fifth-graders to spend two school days learning about nature at local sites such as Dana Point Harbor. Sixth-graders in the district will spend five days in the San Bernardino Mountains, living in cabins and participating in a variety of outdoor activities.

Trustees will also restore a $186,000 music program for kindergarten through third-grade students. “I think that was the cut that bothered them the most,” Bailey said.

Other restorations include $200,000 to the district’s retirement fund and an additional $100,000 for instructional equipment.

Despite reports of additional funding from Sacramento in June, the district adopted its $112-million budget without rescinding any of the cuts. Instead, district officials opted to wait until the governor signed the state budget in August.

Trustees, however, will not rescind the increase in average class size by one student, a move which saved the district the most money--$1.8 million--last spring.

The district, which now serves more than 28,000 students, has 19 elementary schools, one middle school, three junior high schools, four high schools, an Adult Community Education facility, and an Exceptional Needs facility for severely handicapped students.