California’s schools brace for steep cuts

The Long Beach school board voted to close an elementary school this week. The Rialto Unified School District, in what is believed to be the first such action in the state this year, sent notices to 305 employees including teachers, informing them that they may not have a job next fall. The San Francisco school district may take city “rainy day” money to help balance its budget.

School districts across California have begun trimming services and preparing to lay off teachers in response to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget, which could cut about $4.8 billion in education funding this year and next year. Educators say it’s the worst financial crisis they can remember.

In previous budget cycles, school district and union officials have cried foul when the governor’s budget was announced early in the year, only to have funding levels return to normal -- or near normal -- before school started in the fall.

In addition, officials say they have trimmed their budgets in recent years without having to lay off teachers or increase class sizes. But many don’t see a light at the end of this budget tunnel.

“There isn’t a whole lot of fat left to squeeze. You squeeze now by cutting jobs and teachers,” said Bill Hedrick, president of the Rialto Education Assn. “We expect some of our members not to have jobs next fall. That’s the reality of the situation.”

The Los Angeles Unified School District, the state’s largest, could have a $560-million deficit next year, an amount that would affect classroom programs. The district already had agreed to trim almost $100 million from next year’s budget to comply with county guidelines before Schwarzenegger’s announcement in January of his fiscal plan, which includes $460 million more in potential reductions.

The combined sums would be the district’s biggest shortfall ever.

“When I first saw the governor’s proposed budget, quite frankly, I was in a state of shock,” Supt. David L. Brewer said at a recent board meeting.

District officials have begun raising some scary scenarios to illustrate the depth of the potential problem. Chief Financial Officer Megan K. Reilly said the $460-million cut would be the equivalent of closing 22 high schools, firing 5,750 employees or instituting an 8% pay cut for all employees.

The timing is particularly awkward because state law requires districts to initially inform teachers by March 15 that they may be unemployed, even though that deadline is well before the state’s budget is finalized.

The teachers union has warned L.A. Unified not to cut from classrooms.

“It’s about time we cut fat from this district. We expect before they start cutting from the heart of the schools and classrooms that they will cut the non-school-site administration,” said A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles.

District officials already plan to reduce the administrative staff. The board approved a proposal to potentially trim about $48 million from central and local offices over the next two years, although that figure could change. But those cuts alone won’t be enough to balance the books, said board member Julie Korenstein.

“There’s no way you could get that much money from just efficiency,” she said.

Other districts have begun to take preliminary steps to make layoffs. The Rialto school board voted last week to notify almost 300 employees that they could lose their jobs. That represents almost a fourth of the district’s workforce.

The nearly 30,000-student district faces a $23-million shortfall, mainly because of the proposed budget but also because of declining enrollment.

“We’re in the middle of the hotbed of foreclosures, so we’ve been losing students at an accelerated rate,” said Deputy Supt. Joseph Davis. He said there have been about 400 foreclosures in the district’s area.

It’s not unusual for school districts to issue preliminary layoff notices during tough budget times, and the teachers are often hired back during the summer. But this time could be different, said Hedrick, the Rialto teachers union president.

“Clearly, if a budget resolution is not found, then the intent is to balance the budget on the back of public schools,” he said.

The San Francisco school district is facing a $40-million deficit next year but may be able to draw on the city’s “rainy day” fund, which could provide the district with about $30 million.

The deal, proposed by Mayor Gavin Newsom, must be approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. If it fails to pass, the 56,000-student district may have to lay off up to 500 teachers and administrators, spokeswoman Gentle Blythe said.

“We’re looking at the rainy day fund with a lot of hope,” she said.

The Education Coalition, an umbrella organization that represents state teachers and PTAs, among other groups, has been running radio ads since last month to highlight the problem.

Robin Swanson, a spokeswoman for the group, declined to say how much it had spent on the campaign. “We’ll run them as long as we have to,” she said.

The governor’s education secretary, David Long, has been meeting with educators to listen to their concerns, said Chris Bertelli, assistant secretary of education.

Bertelli said the solution to the problem is developing a better way to fund schools. “This kind of feast-or-famine budgeting is not fair to anyone. We hope to engage the education community in a long-term budget solution,” he said.

The Long Beach Board of Education voted to close Tucker Elementary, which would save the district about $1 million. The 400 Tucker students will go to MacArthur Elementary about four miles away, and the Tucker campus will be used for offices and programs now housed in leased property.

The district will have to trim or shift about $40 million to balance its budget.

The measures are “one way to save money . . . but it’s a little bit of a nightmare in terms of morale,” said board member Dave Barton.

At the Anaheim Union High School District, which faces a $17-million shortfall, administrators are holding individual meetings with staff members who could be laid off. Three counselors were told Wednesday that they could lose their jobs.

It’s unclear how many employees could be facing that fate, said Supt. Joseph M. Farley.

“The whole point is to make this as transparent as possible,” he said.

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jason.song@latimes.com