IRVINE : Cut Administrators First, Board Advised

When school board members meet Tuesday to consider massive budget cuts, they should begin by cutting the number of district-level administrators, according to a recent survey of Irvine Unified School District employees.

Some 85% of the employees who completed the survey conducted by the school district put administrative cuts at the top of their budget-cutting list. Cuts in sports and fine arts programs were ranked near the bottom.

The “Budget Reduction Survey” was completed by 88% of the district’s 1,980 employees.

The school board will review potential cuts of $2 million to $6 million in the district’s $100-million 1995-96 budget at its meeting Tuesday. But trustees are not planning any action until Feb. 15, hoping to get more information from the county before deciding on cuts and potential layoffs.

Irvine Unified has $105 million frozen in the county investment pool and could lose up to $23 million, according to the district’s worst-case estimates.

Surveys distributed to parents have yet to be tabulated. But after attending recent public forums on the budget crisis, school board President Tom Burnham said parents are in favor of administrative cuts if they will preserve programs and not increase class sizes.

A management audit conducted three years ago concluded that Irvine Unified was operating at minimum administrative staffing levels, according to acting Supt. Dean Waldfogel.

But Burnham said it will not be enough to simply cut administrators and operate as usual.

“We have to think differently about how we provide some of these fundamental services,” Burnham said.