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HUNTINGTON BEACH : District Spares Jobs, Decides Program Cuts

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A series of budget cuts approved by the Ocean View School District this week will not result in teacher layoffs, but plans to enhance educational offerings and improve district facilities have been dashed.

Ocean View, which serves 9,000 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, was faced with a $1.8-million budget problem resulting from the collapse of the Orange County investment pool. The district decided to draw $800,000 out of a reserve fund to avoid teacher layoffs, leaving $1 million to be cut. It had $8.8 million in the pool.

The $1.8-million projected shortfall “really affects our long-term instructional and capital improvement plans,” said Supt. James R. Tarwater. The district budget for fiscal 1994-95 is $38 million.

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“With that money we would really have propelled our educational program to the moon,” Tarwater said. “That’s a major amount of money. So yes, we really feel the impact of the (county) bankruptcy.”

Among the cuts are book purchases, maintenance and a plan to electronically link classrooms with the “information superhighway” via Internet.

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