District to Slash Budget, but Will Avoid Layoffs : Education: Deep cuts in supplies and services are probable. Newest crisis is blamed on declining lottery revenue.

The Montebello Unified School District, teetering near bankruptcy, is expected to slash another $700,000 from its budget today, making deep cuts in supplies and services but avoiding further layoffs.

District officials blame the latest round of cuts on a continuing decline in lottery proceeds that produced $1.1 million less than expected.

To make matters worse, the county wants Montebello to establish a fund to cushion the district against such unexpected expenses.

The district is also hurting because there are not as many students in class as officials had predicted, lowering the amount of money the district will receive from the state.

Since April, the state’s 12th largest school district has cut nearly $27 million from its $101-million budget. The anticipated cuts will range from a hiring freeze on non-teaching employees to a reduction in maintenance and office supplies, acting business manager Glenn Sheppard said.

Previous budget reductions included cutting pay, increasing class size and laying off about 180 employees, most of them teachers.

Sheppard said it was difficult to predict how much money would be saved by some of the latest cuts, such as the hiring freeze or the reduction in clerical substitutes.

“These are items that we would not have considered in the past because they were not definable,” Sheppard said.

“If it appears these cuts are not coming to pass, we have to re-examine them and find a suitable alternative or find budget dollars between now and June 30.”

Some of the $700,000 in savings results from money transfers rather than budget cuts. The plan includes using money from other accounts to bail out the general fund.

Board President Eleanor Chow questioned the legality of that strategy.

“I don’t want the Department of Education breathing down our necks,” Chow said, “I want to stay away from any gray area.” She reluctantly said she would go along with the cuts.

Officials noted that the budget crisis would be much worse except for a windfall that saved the district $1.1 million.

State auditors decided last week that the district does not have to repay money it used to repair damage caused by the 1987 Whittier earthquake. The district used the money to remove asbestos dislodged by the quake.

Though unhappy about the cuts, employee representatives were relieved that they do not include more layoffs.

“I’m pleased that they’re not including any personnel cuts,” said Montebello Teachers Assn. President Kathy Klein. “But there’s no such thing as a safe haven. (All the cuts) impact on the students.”

The district will probably have to make more-painful cuts to balance next year’s budget, Sheppard said, which worried board member Frank Serrano. “I’m happy we’re not cutting people,” Serrano said. “But we have to look on the horizon and realize that we have several more million to cut next year.”