SOUTH COUNTY : Supt. Warns Parents About Voucher Plan

If the school voucher initiative passes, it will cost the Capistrano Unified School District between $7 million and $14 million a year, Supt. James A. Fleming told a gathering of PTA presidents and other community members last week.

Using information from the California Senate Office of Education, the state controller, the legislative analyst and the district’s budget office, Fleming predicted that 10.5% of the district’s annual budget would be lost if the initiative passes. That figure is based on the fact that students attending private schools constitute about 10.5% of the state’s student population.

The initiative on the Nov. 2 ballot would give parents $2,600 in state funds to spend at any voucher-redeeming private, parochial or public school.

Independent studies have said it is impossible to predict the financial impact of the controversial initiative because it is unclear how many students would use vouchers.

But Fleming said Friday that even if no students switch schools, Capistrano Unified will lose $14 million because those now enrolled in private schools would eventually receive vouchers.

Warning parents that the vouchers would mean the end of public school as they know it, Fleming said that potential cutbacks would include varsity football and free busing and suggested that the district would have to increase class size to 40 students.