County School Board Backs Off on Proposed Cuts, Approves Budget

The Ventura County Board of Education adopted a $39.4-million budget Tuesday after board President Marty Bates backed off on a proposal to cut up to $325,000 from the spending plan.

Despite a nearly balanced budget, Bates had called for cuts of up to 20% in areas including travel, conferences, association membership dues and a vocational training program, saying the county superintendent of schools office was “top heavy.”

But Supt. Charles Weis and nearly a dozen members of the public argued that the budget was actually lean and that any cuts would ultimately hurt the students.

“This is the first year in the last 10 years that we haven’t had to go back into the budget and make cuts,” Weis said before the meeting. “I don’t see the rationale behind making cuts this year.”

The board voted 4 to 1--with member Angela Miller casting the lone no vote--to approve the budget after a long debate.

The spending plan does not represent any major changes from last year’s budget, except for the hiring of a countywide program evaluator and a full-time principal at Phoenix School for emotionally disabled students in Camarillo.

Board member Wendy Larner, who voted for the new budget, said she nevertheless opposed the hiring of the director of research and evaluation at $65,507 annually.

Weis said superintendents across the county had requested the evaluator, who he said would help schools develop more effective teaching programs.

“That rhetoric sounds good, Dr. Weis,” Larner said, but she added that she feared the evaluator could reduce the autonomy of local school districts.

Weis said the evaluator would only come to schools at the request of school officials.

Some residents said they were upset that some board members had requested cuts when the budget is nearly balanced.

“What they are trying to do is usurp the authority of the superintendent with whom they are in political disagreement,” said Rudy Petersdorf, an Ojai attorney and frequent board critic.

In opposing the budget, board member Angela Miller said the county schools office spends too much on travel, conferences and association membership dues.

“That money needs to be applied to the classroom,” Miller said before the meeting. “It is children that need the funds.”

But slicing $40,210 from the county’s $201,000 travel and mileage budget would have limited the ability of psychologists, speech therapists and teachers and principals who work at several schools to serve students, Weis said.

“It will actually be reducing services to the children,” Weis said.

Weis also argued that staff members stay on top of the latest information on education through conferences and membership in teachers’ associations, and that in turn can enhance a student’s learning.

Under Bates’ proposal, the Regional Occupational Program, which trains high school students in skills such as auto repair, welding and basic nursing, could have lost up to $175,853.

Weis said the decrease could have eliminated some of those vocational programs.

Board member John McGarry, a retired superintendent of the Rio School District, said he failed to see the need for the reduction.

“If there is a reason to make these cuts, I am going to get right on the line and say let’s do it,” McGarry said before the meeting. “But at this point in time, we are looking at a balanced budget.”

Except for setting aside $250,000 in reserves to renovate an aging conference center at the Camarillo Airport, which puts the budget slightly in the red, the spending plan is balanced. Officials say the county needs to upgrade the windowless facility because teachers and other staff members use it frequently for training and other functions.

The latest budget does not include raises for any staff members, although that could change after contract negotiations are completed later this year.

The county superintendent of schools office employs about 370 administrators, teachers, instructional aides and support staff and runs programs including special education at schools across Ventura County. The office also runs the Gateway Community School for troubled youth and the school at juvenile hall.

Rob Smith, assistant superintendent for business and personnel services, said the 1996-97 fiscal year budget includes money for nearly all the programs offered last year. Programs such as the bilingual teacher recruitment program and the bilingual teacher training program should get money later this year when special grants come in, Smith said.