High School District on Road to Fiscal Recovery

After two years under the watchful eye of the Los Angeles County Office of Education, the once-bankrupt Antelope Valley Union High School District will soon regain its independence.

By the end of this month, the school district expects to make its final payment on an $8-million loan from the county that has allowed it to stay afloat the last 24 months. And at the end of June, the fiscal adviser the county superintendent assigned to the school district will be gone.

“It’s no less than a miracle that we’re out of this thing in two years,” said Billy Pricer, school board president.

But county education officials warned that the jubilation should be tempered.

The district needs to move slowly in restoring the teaching, staff and administrative jobs and programs that were eliminated or scaled back during the fiscal crisis. Otherwise, the budget could again be overburdened, said Deborah Simons, business advisory services director for the education office.

Norm Miller, the fiscal adviser assigned by the county superintendent in February, 1992, to oversee the district’s day-to-day operations, said one of the greatest problems the district will face as it completes its financial recovery is psychological. There will be “a lot of pressures.”

Ed Hedgecock, president of the union representing the district’s maintenance workers, security officers, secretaries and other support staff, is among those putting on the pressure.

Hedgecock and his counterpart from the teachers union have monitored the district’s spending and say they are anxious to see the district begin to restore the 140 or so jobs that were cut or not filled.

“It was a long road and a hard road,” Hedgecock said. “I think we’re on the road to better and brighter things.”

Simons told the board last week that once the loan is repaid, the board must decide on some priorities. Among the things that need to be considered: reducing class sizes, improving campus security and restoring staff positions as funds are available.

Con Oamek, the district’s assistant superintendent of business services, said that in developing the 1994-95 budget, “we’re trying to be very conservative.”

Financial problems were first discovered in the 12,400-student district more than two years ago and blossomed into a $14-million shortfall, the result of poor spending and revenue projections, overly optimistic enrollment growth estimates and substantial deficit spending for several years in a row, according to the county education office.

A major factor in the district’s financial recovery, according to the county, were the salary and benefit reductions, which included a 7% salary cut negotiated with employees.

Although the county education office will relinquish its close oversight of the high school district, it will still pay attention to the district’s finances, Simons said. The district will have to provide periodic status reports to the county education office, which also will make regular visits to the district.

D. Kenneth Shelton, assistant superintendent of business services for the county education office, applauded district officials for what they have done to ensure the financial recovery of the district.