ORANGE : Schools May Need New Budget Cuts

The Orange Unified School District should be prepared to slash up to $5 million from its $106-million budget next academic year if the state’s fiscal crisis continues, a financial official has warned trustees.

Joyce Capelle, district fiscal services director, told the school board last week that Orange Unified may face a $1-million to $5-million shortfall in its 1992-93 budget. The $5-million figure is “a long shot,” Capelle said, but the district should “prepare for the worst.”

The district cut $5.2 million from its budget over the last 18 months--cutbacks that left dozens of staff jobs unfilled. So far, the district has been able to avoid classroom layoffs.

“The problem with this district is that we’ve already cut programs that other districts are just looking at now,” Capelle said. “We’ve already cut down to the bone.”

The state is expected to approve its budget in May, but the document may not be finally passed until late summer, she said.

“If the state continues to not have any money into July and August, the district will have a problem,” Capelle said. “As it stands now, June is going to be a very difficult month.”

School district budget reductions may be needed if the state fails to fund several programs, Capelle said.

Usually, the state funds school districts with a cost-of-living allowance increase that covers rising expenses and offsets the districts’ contribution to the Public Employee Retirement System, Capelle said. Last year, districts were allowed a onetime exemption to withhold the retirement system contribution because the state provided no cost-of-living expense. If the state fails to provide such an increase this year, the district will face a more than $2-million shortage.

Capelle also said the state could cut supplemental grants, about $1.6 million which the district uses to fund transportation and special-education programs.

Trustees of the seven-member board have directed its staff to develop contingency plans that would balance the budget if more trims are needed.

If Orange Unified is forced to squeeze more from the budget, trustees may need to reduce or eliminate the school transportation program, athletic programs and other services considered to be sacred cows, Capelle said.

“Nothing is sacred when you’re looking at the potential financial catastrophe that the state is sharing with the school district,” she said.