SANTA ANA : School Board OKs Budget Revisions

The Santa Ana Unified School District board on Tuesday approved a revised 1992-93 budget that includes no new cuts for now, but officials warned that state budget problems have soured hopes that future reductions can be avoided.

Controller Bob Giritz said Wednesday that the plan will cover a $316,000 deficit by reducing the district’s reserve to its legal limit. Like school officials throughout the state, Giritz hopes that the state budget crisis won’t require further cuts, but he added that “the chances of that are just about zero.”

Giritz said the revised budget must be amended yet again when the state irons out its budget mess. District officials wanted to wait until they knew how much money was coming from the state, but the district is required by law to submit a revised budget by Sept. 1.

He said he is frustrated that the state is enforcing the deadline despite the fact that state officials are two months late in adopting their own budget.

At the meeting, Giritz spoke in dire terms about how schools will fare in the tug of war over state funding, saying, “I don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. Will it get worse? Yes. How much, I don’t know.”