SANTA ANA : Schools Postpone Maintenance Jobs

To alleviate a potential revenue shortfall of $4.3 million by the end of the 1991-92 fiscal year, Santa Ana Unified School District officials have decided to postpone “cosmetic” maintenance, such as painting and some asbestos-removal projects.

District Controller Bob Giritz said last week that the move will save $1.4 million without directly affecting students. Still, Giritz called the cuts “some pretty serious belt-tightening,” especially coming on the heels of more than $21 million in cuts during the last two years that eliminated dozens of programs, staff and faculty members.

Giritz said that the district would save $750,000 by deferring asbestos removal and painting of buildings but emphasized that only “cosmetic concerns” would be postponed. The district has “taken care of asbestos where it had to be done” and what remains is not a safety hazard, he said. Other cutbacks include postponing the removal of several portable classrooms and reducing district office supplies.

The slumping economy contributed heavily to the shortfall, Giritz said, by bringing about falling interest rates, a decline in lottery funding and a sharp drop in revenue generated by property development within the district. The district estimates that lost revenue from those sources could total $2.5 million.

The district also stands to lose millions of dollars as a result of declining attendance levels. The state reimburses schools for each day a student attends school, and a predicted 600-student decline in the district’s average daily attendance would cost $1.8 million.

The district already has slashed more than $21 million from its budget over the last two years by cutting teachers and programs.

John Bennett, assistant superintendent, said students and teachers alike are feeling the pinch from many of the $21 million worth of cuts that have already been made: “As we’re having to reduce counselors, students are going to have longer times between the time they make an appointment and the time they see a counselor. Teachers are taking on other responsibilities, trying to pick up where we have some voids.”

An example, officials said, is the EASE program used to help students from other countries adjust to the school system. With the program cut, many of those students are simply being placed in the grade appropriate for their age. As a result, teachers must use time that would have been spent on their whole classes to give these students extra, individual help.