VENTURA : New School Budget Includes Staff Raises

Ventura’s school board approved a $61.3-million budget that includes the district’s first cost-of-living adjustment in four years, educators said Wednesday.

The 1995-96 school year budget includes $1.2 million in new funds the Ventura Unified School District will receive due to a 2.2% inflationary increase in state education spending proposed by Gov. Pete Wilson.

About 95% of the new funds will pay for employee raises, including a tentative 2.2% hike for the district’s 650 teachers, said budget manager Georgeann Brown.

The teachers union negotiated the increase in anticipation of the state increase, Brown said. That pact will go to the teachers for a vote in September.

Secretaries, maintenance workers and clerks are also negotiating for a raise, Brown said. The remaining 5% of new funds will pay for the increased costs of insurance and utilities, she said.

Although educators are relieved to finally be getting an increase after four years of budget slashing, 2.2% will not make up for all that has been lost, Brown said.

“What we don’t want to do is give people a false sense that this is wonderful news for education,” she said. “If you look back over the years that we have been deficited, we should be at a much higher funding level than we are.”

With the increase, Ventura Unified’s per-pupil state funding will be $3,190, Brown said.