School Cutbacks Tentatively OKd : Budget: Board refuses to trim police officers and music teachers, or cut $11 million in employees’ health benefits.

The Los Angeles Board of Education gave tentative approval Thursday to $386 million in budget cuts, but rejected plans to make reductions in school police, elementary school music teachers and health benefits.

The preliminary votes were taken to help direct the staff in making suggestions on how to slash a minimum of $400 million from the Los Angeles Unified School District’s budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. A final set of recommendations will be presented Monday, with the board scheduled to make a final decision on spending cuts June 25.

The board tentatively approved reducing administrative positions, eliminating some district offices and cutting some instructional support programs.

But a majority of board members voted against reductions that could save the district $1.4 million by reducing the number of elementary school music teachers and school police. The board also rejected a proposal to trim $11 million from employee health benefits. District employees are already facing a possible pay cut of nearly 12% to help save the district more than $225 million.

Although board member Mark Slavkin voted against two suggested cuts and requested additional information before deciding on several others, he said it was critical that the board dig even deeper into services and programs to minimize the amount of cuts the district has to make in employee compensation.

“I would like to see us go further before we have to cut our employees’ salaries,” Slavkin said. “We need to make the hard choices.”

The pending cuts are the latest results of a fiscal crisis that has forced the district to reduce spending by more than $800 million in the last four years--nearly one-fourth of its $3.7-billion annual operating budget.

To save money, district officials have proposed everything from eliminating summer school to cutting the school year by 17 days--a plan that has been shelved. But Los Angeles School Supt. Bill Anton emphasized Thursday that no final decisions have been made and that the budgetary process will continue through the few remaining days of this fiscal year.

“We’re still constantly searching (and) reviewing to see what other cuts could keep the (impact) on employee compensation as low as possible,” Anton said.

But board members deemed some services too critical to consider reducing them, even in the midst of a budgetary crisis.

Barbara Boudreaux was one of four board members to reject reductions in school police, despite assurances that the cutbacks would be in central office positions and not affect the number of officers assigned to campuses.

“I feel that’s an area we need to add to rather than reduce,” Boudreaux said.

On Monday, board members will suggest some cuts of their own.