L.A. Unified Cuts $31 Million More

The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday cut $31.2 million more from next year’s budget, mainly targeting central office functions and some maintenance positions.

The latest cutbacks come after the Los Angeles Unified School District previously shaved $384.8 million in an effort to meet a total shortfall of more than $430 million. The district says those cuts are needed to balance its budget of $5.2 billion in general funds for the next fiscal year.

Some of the previous cuts will increase some class sizes and reduce some academic support staff. In contrast, Tuesday’s actions will have a minimal effect on classrooms, according to district officials.

Board members voted to cut the inspector general’s budget, delay the purchase of school police vehicles and eliminate 90 school maintenance positions, among other actions.

The board worked through the proposed reductions relatively quickly, in contrast to a contentious 12-hour budget session in late April when it debated the more controversial measures.

“These cuts were a little easier to swallow,” said board member Jose Huizar, after Tuesday’s budget session.

The board put off votes on $15 million in additional reductions until its June 20 meeting. Among those proposals is a plan to bus some students to campuses early so the vehicles can make a second trip on the same mornings. The board will also review possible cuts to a program that rewards National Board Certified teachers.

Supt. Roy Romer urged everyone to make hard sacrifices.

“We’ve got to put the pressure on everyone in this district to find cuts,” he said. And he said the cuts have to be deep enough to enable the district to negotiate health benefits and pay increases with its employees.

United Teachers-Los Angeles and several other large school unions, currently seeking raises in new contracts, held a news conference Monday to complain that the district did not pay its employees enough.

District Budget Director Lorenzo Tyner said he was worried that there would be little left to slash if the board rejected the remaining proposals later this month.

“We were scraping the bottom of the barrel with these cuts,” he said.

The district’s financial woes stem from higher special education costs, litigation fees, workers’ compensation payments and a state budget shortfall.