BUENA PARK : Board Eliminates Junior High Sports

After-school sports at Buena Park Junior High School will be eliminated along with some jobs under the 1992 budget approved by the school board.

The $18-million budget shows cuts of almost $1.8 million this year and may be whittled further after the Legislature approves the state budget, Assistant Supt. Gary W. Cardinale said..

“This budget calendar is the most stringent, the most rigid and the most difficult that I’ve ever seen,” Cardinale said.

If Gov. Pete Wilson’s proposed budget, which includes a $2.3-billion cut in education funding, is approved, the school district will have $370 less per student next year than it did this year, Cardinale said.

The district counted 4,616 students in the spring and expects about 450 additional students in the fall.

At Buena Park Junior High, all after-school activities, including basketball, intramural sports, track and soccer, were eliminated to reduce salary costs. The district will not pay teachers extra for coaching or attending teacher conferences, reducing expenses by $60,000.

“Where we sit right now, I’m sorry to see that we’re going to have to make any cuts at all, but we had to to stay above water,” said board President Barbara Fagins. She added that the sports programs may be rescued in the future with the help of parents and other volunteers.

“We have to be creative with our resources. We don’t want to let our kids down.”

The district reduced the budget further by postponing replacement of seven teachers who have retired or resigned until the actual student count in the fall proves that the hiring is necessary to maintain a 30-to-1 student-teacher ratio, Cardinale said.

The district gets the biggest chunk of its funding, $13 million, from the state based on student population.

The continuing decline in sales taxes and lottery revenue and the state government’s failure to approve a budget have forced officials to fear the worst.

“It is important that we are aware that a budget solution has not been found in Sacramento,” Supt. Jack Townsend told the board. “I think we can almost assuredly forecast that there will be additional cuts in this budget.”