SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Schools Budget Not as Grim as Feared

A budget shortfall in the Capistrano Unified School District may not be as bad as expected, officials said this week, but they also cautioned trustees that the district is “not out of the woods yet.”

The new information on the district’s financial situation came Monday as the Board of Trustees adopted a tentative budget for the coming fiscal year. A final budget will be brought to the board in late June.

The district expects a shortfall of about $1 million in the estimated $128.5-million fiscal 1993-94 budget, officials said. That projection is down significantly from an earlier estimate of $4.5 million.

The change is due largely to the district’s learning that it may receive more money than expected from a variety of sources, including the state lottery. Supt. James A. Fleming warned that the district’s fiscal situation is dependent on the state budget.

“We’re watching day by day,” he told the board. And although the shortfall may be smaller than expected, it still caps two years’ worth of reductions totaling more than $11 million, Fleming said.

The tentative budget lacks specifics on what may be cut.

However, trustees unanimously approved a plan that will reduce the number of bus stops by asking more students to walk to nearby schools, a move that will save the district about $265,000 annually in transportation costs.

Under the plan, the no-busing zones around schools will be increased to a one-mile radius for elementary school, a 1.5-mile radius for middle schools and a 2.5-mile radius for high schools. About 1,300 elementary students, 900 intermediate students and 500 high school students will be affected by the change, officials said.

These zones were previously set at three-quarters of a mile for elementary schools, a mile for middle schools and two miles for high schools, the lowest for any school district in the county. The school district carries more students more miles than any other district in the county.

Parents who live within the newly established zones may pay the standard $180 annual fee for a round-trip bus pass and take their children to a nearby stop.