CALABASAS : School Enrollment May Imperil Budget

Flat enrollment over the past year has placed a fiscal strain on the Las Virgenes Unified School District. And the trend--which appears likely to continue--could force steep budget cuts, district officials warn.

Enrollment normally grows 2% to 5% a year, Donald Zimring, the district’s assistant superintendent of business, told the Board of Education on Tuesday. This year, he said, enrollment grew less than 1%, to 10,696 students in the district’s 13 schools.

As a result, he said, the district lost $450,000 in potential revenues from the state, which doles out funds on a per-student basis.

The district has been caught in a fiscal bind, because it hired extra staff to accommodate anticipated growth, Zimring said. The growth has not occurred, he said, and the district has “more staff than we would have under our standard formula for this number of students.”

To make up for some of the lost revenue, Zimring proposed several actions, including transferring money from specially funded programs, such as adult education and instructional materials, to programs that have deficits.

Board members said that, in general, they prefer Zimring’s suggestion over the alternative, eliminating some programs altogether.

“(The funds) could be shifted back if we get increased enrollment,” in future years, said board Vice President Judy Jordan. The board did not vote because it did not have a quorum. It will take up the matter at its next meeting.

The flat enrollment is ironic in view of the district’s reputation for excellent schools. Two, Chaparral Elementary School in Calabasas and Yerba Buena Elementary School in Agoura Hills, recently were singled out for special honors by the state Department of Education. In the past, four other district schools received similar honors.

Zimring said the district may be able to boost enrollment by marketing itself to students who live outside the district. “We are the best, and we know it, but I think we have been complacent too long,” said Zimring.

District officials are not sure what caused enrollment to level off, Zimring said. But one factor may be that a significant number of families moved into the district after the Northridge earthquake, stayed for awhile and then moved away, he said.

In a similar vein, he said, the district has noticed that, in general, some families moved away and were replaced by people without children. Also, he said, it appears that some parents are enrolling their children in private schools, often to take advantage of smaller class sizes.

Meanwhile, Zimring said, the district is anxiously awaiting final figures for next year’s kindergarten enrollment, which, according to early indications, will remain flat.