IRVINE : School Board Slashes Budget by $795,000

It was an emotional night Tuesday for school board members who apologized for taking a loan to invest in the troubled county bond pool and argued over the formation of a citizens’ budget task force.

After passing a resolution declaring a state of fiscal emergency in the Irvine Unified School District, board members cut an estimated $795,000 from the current school year’s budget by delaying the hiring of a new superintendent until July 1 and freezing hiring and “nonessential” spending.

Board members also reduced their stipends from $400 to $100 a month and put most building projects on hold.

Paul Harvey, who has two children in the school district, asked school board members why they chose to borrow $54.5 million to invest in the county portfolio. “What got us to borrow the money, and was it logical?” Harvey asked board members.

The school district and the city are among four county agencies that borrowed money to invest in the county pool.

While explaining that financial experts assured the district the investment strategy was sound, several board members agonized publicly about their decision.

“As a board member, I don’t think I’ve ever grieved more about a decision that I’ve made,” said Margie Wakeham, who voted with trustees Mary Ellen Hadley and Mike Regele in May of last year to borrow funds to invest in the pool. School board President Tom Burnham voted against the plan and Hank Adler was not on the board at the time.

“I’m truly, truly sorry for what has occurred,” Hadley said during the Tuesday night meeting.

Tempers flared over the creation of a budget task force, with some board members calling for broader public participation in the form of a town hall meeting. The board will schedule two public meetings and continue discussions on creating a finance committee.