Schools in Line for $6-Million Infusion : Education: The money stems from a proposed settlement over Proposition 98. But there are restrictions on use of the funds.

Ventura County public schools stand to receive $6 million more than they budgeted for the 1995-96 school year, the result of a proposed settlement over long-deferred Proposition 98 funding, officials said Wednesday.

The increase translates to about $53 more per student than the average $3,200 per pupil already expected in the coming year, said Robert Smith, assistant superintendent of business services for the county superintendent of schools office.

But there are a couple of catches: The money is for one year only, and it must be spent on school maintenance or the purchase of new books, supplies and computers.

The only way a school board can transfer the funds to school employees--granting teachers one-time bonuses, for instance--is if the board agrees to do so after holding two public hearings on the matter, Smith said.

That restriction was placed by Gov. Pete Wilson’s office in an attempt to coax local school officials into spending the money on neglected areas of their budgets. The bulk of limited funding in recent years has gone for raises and the rising costs of employee benefits, insurance and utilities, Smith said.

It also is an unprecedented attempt to give the public a greater voice in saying how school funds should be spent in their communities, Smith and other education officials said.

“The Legislature and the governor wanted to establish priorities for funding,” said Michael Ricketts, director of finance in the state Department of Education. “And they felt that deferred maintenance, technology and instructional materials are priorities.”

The restrictions are part of a proposed settlement reached earlier this month between Wilson and the California Teachers Assn. over a lawsuit involving Proposition 98 funding. Ventura County educators began learning the details of how that settlement will affect them this week.

Proposition 98, approved by California voters in 1988, guaranteed public schools a stable funding base. But Wilson contended that a later law invalidated education’s claim to the money. He held $536 million in escrow pending settlement of the lawsuit.

Under the proposed settlement, the state would distribute about $248 million of the Proposition 98 funds for the 1995-96 school year. The rest of the money held in escrow would be paid back to schools over the next eight years, school officials said.

The Proposition 98 funds come on top of another $26 per student in one-time block grants that schools will receive under the new state budget, Smith said. The block-grant money is part of the state budget package signed by Wilson on Aug. 3.

In the past, that money has been restricted to specific education programs, such as boosting counseling for 10th-graders or offering bilingual education, Smith said. Under the new budget, school districts will get funding for more than 30 special programs as one block grant, and will have more flexibility spending it, Smith said.

“Each district will have greater choice in funneling the money where they see the greatest need,” including spending it to enhance school technology, he said.

District administrators, teachers and school board members in Ventura County are already beginning to stake out positions on how the new infusion of cash should be spent.

At the Ventura Unified School District board meeting this week, Budget Manager Georgeann Brown informed school board members about the settlement and told them the district could expect to receive about $800,000 in one-time funds.

When a trustee asked if the money could be spent on supplies and technology, Joseph Richards, assistant superintendent, reminded the board that any new money must be discussed with the district’s union leaders before it can be disbursed.

That stipulation is written into the teachers’ and support staffs’ contracts, Richards said. Many Ventura County school districts have similar agreements with their employee unions.

Simi Educators Assn. President Ron Myren said he hopes the money will allow the Simi Valley Unified School District to give the 600 teachers in his union a raise.

The teachers have been working without a contract for a year and have threatened to strike if they do not reach an agreement when school resumes in September, Myren said. He said the school could use the Proposition 98 money to pay for supplies and other needs.

“That money then frees up general fund money that can go onto the salary schedule,” he said.

The Conejo Valley Unified School District, which serves students in Thousand Oaks, expects to receive about $934,000, acting Business Manager Regena Ward said. But school officials have not yet decided how to spent it, she said.

Ventura Unified school Trustee John Walker said he would like to see the funds spent on supplies and updating the district’s computer network.

The district already has researched and advertised for bids on a computer system that will include link students to the global Internet, keep track of enrollment and attendance and provide districtwide e-mail, Walker noted.

District officials estimated the cost of the system at $900,000.

“This money could be very timely in bringing our students into the 21st Century,” Walker said.

Times correspondent Ira E. Stoll contributed to this story.