Budget Cuts Coming to BHUSD
The Board of Education will consider a variety of ways to trim the budget for the next school year.
Board Vice President Brian Goldberg, President Lisa Korbatov, and member Jake Manaster discuss budget cuts at last week's special board meeting.
Laurie Lande
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The Beverly Hills Unified School District needs to cut $1.7 million from its current $53 million budget due to a combination of state-mandated reductions and the ending of one-time federal grants. Board of Education members will be voting on the cuts at Tuesday’s board meeting.
In addition, the Los Angeles County Office of Education is requiring that the BHUSD put aside $1.4 million in a special reserve in case a tax extension proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown does not pass a June special election.
Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Alex Cherniss proposed a variety of ways to reduce the budget at a board study session last week. He suggested that BHUSD eliminate 16 staff positions in order to save $1.28 million, and impose cuts to programs such as the middle school bands and counseling services. Cherniss also suggested cutting maintenance and operations costs from the current 4.5 percent of the annual budget to the state-required 3 percent, saving at least $750,000.
Several board members said that teacher layoffs should be a last resort.
“We want to keep the cuts as far away from the classroom as possible,” Vice President Brian Goldberg said at last week’s study session.
To reach a $1.7 million budget reduction, Goldberg proposed cutting $750,000 from maintenance and operations, $500,000 from the BHUSD special education budget and shifting $100,000 in technology spending to Measure E, the $334 million bond voters passed in 2008 to modernize the five city schools.
Goldberg also suggested using Measure E money, rather than BHUSD general fund money, to cover an anticipated $400,000 in legal costs related to fighting a Metropolitan Transportation Authority proposal to tunnel under Beverly Hills High School as part of the Westside Subway Extension.
The MTA-related legal costs can come from Measure E funds because it covers all construction and modernization spending at BHHS, Goldberg believes. The board is waiting for an opinion from its legal team as to whether Measure E money can be spent on the MTA fight.
Teacher retirements and leaves of absence will guarantee the district some savings during the next fiscal year, which begins July 1. Goldberg estimates the BHUSD will accumulate $640,000 in savings from eight teachers who are expected to leave the district for various reasons, he told Patch.
Goldberg does feel strongly that budget cuts do not mean teacher jobs should be eliminated.
“You can’t have smaller class sizes, more electives or a gifted and talented program—all things parents say they want—without a teacher in the classroom,” he said.
How should the BHUSD trim its budget?
Tell us in the comments.
Jane
10:07 am on Monday, February 21, 2011
How do you cut from Special Education when those students would then have to be in a class situation where they would be struggling [in the general education classes ]and not have the adequate umbrella of teachers and AIDS who so directly impact their success, the feeling of a safe haven, and their adjustment to school when so many of the students come to school reluctantly anyway. The general education teachers do not have the time to work with them separately. The teachers are already burdened with oversize classes, trying to keep up with California Standards [which take away from the creativity to make subjects interesting and exciting], and the administrative work of entering grades while having to prepare lesson plans. The Special Education department is a stronghold for those students who want to excel and go on the college without having to feel the competition and possible stigma from students who are academically and/or emotionally more advanced. This would be a travesty to the overall morale of the school, which is already declining because people are fearful for their jobs and the students are apathetic.
gregory bell
8:42 am on Wednesday, February 23, 2011
I agree with Jane's comments here. Special needs students are the MOST vulnerable of any school population and subject to constant teasing and bullying. By law all schools must provide students with a free and appropriate education, including specialized instruction and related services, that prepares the child for further education, employment, and independent living That much is certain nonetheless it seems at every opportunity federal, state and local officials look at this particular population and seek to reduce funding for them. It is unacceptable. Why would we seek to fund "higher learning" programs, which programs are not required by law, at the expense of the most needy students? If that is a platform supported by the masses then our societyhas lost its moral compass and values and is doomed. The board MUST look to other areas where it can make a difference without affecting the lives of those who need help the most. Given a chance, special needs kids can grow and become productive members of society. We should support all efforts geared to bringing education and socialization to these children.
Laurie Lande
12:09 pm on Monday, February 21, 2011
Jane,
I will follow up with this. A state-agency audit of BHUSD's special ed dept suggested $1 million in cuts, although the board is unlikely to follow that particular recommendation. Email me if you would like to be interviewed.
Earl Richards
12:30 pm on Monday, February 21, 2011
Brown's budget proposals are ridiculous, because a few members of the opposition will not vote for the budget and Californians will not vote for higher taxes, and very possibly, permanent taxes. So what is Brown's real budget? This budget is an insult to the intelligence of the people of California.
Stephanie Deibel
3:01 pm on Monday, February 21, 2011
How about trimming the fat from the administrative portion of the district. There are too many assistant superintendents wasting tax payer money that could be channeled into the classrooms that are in need of the basics... books, technology, etc. The thought of cutting counseling in a time when families are in fiscal crises and can't support their children, divorce rates are rising and our economic climate is questionable is ludicrous and a disservice to our students. They are the future... they are worth the investment if want our future to improve.
Jane
9:05 pm on Monday, February 21, 2011
Hear! Hear!
Jodi Ticknor
4:14 pm on Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Thanks for the article, Laurie. Cutting into the special education budget or wonderful programs, such as middle school band, is a really terrible idea. Goldberg and the other Board Members need to look internally at the District and administrative staff level first and make hard cuts. The Board needs to roll up it's sleeves, get creative and do everything they can to fight and preserve all the programs we currently have in place, instead of looking to slash and burn there first.
Jane
6:41 pm on Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Perhaps the administrative staff should be the ones to take a cut in salary...god forbid....they shaved off a million or so dollars last night by firing custodians, grounds keepers, and taking away from specialized programs....adding it up in public on the whiteboard for the whole community to see what people earned a year...which of course is transparency...but then you think of the grave inequities in staff salaries...and who makes more than who.....
Why not the higher ups take a 10K cut per year? That is nothing if you most likely earn upwards of $100k. For all the paid administrators sitting there last night, they could have drummed up another 30-40K if they would take cuts...better than firing people who need the job, or not giving raises to people who need the money, or furlough days, if it comes to that, or cutting counselors, and whatever or whoever else's head is on the block as the months wear on. They probably have not even scratched the surface of cutting other staff...I feel for the people who have to work under such unnerving conditions and for the kids who are at the mercy of it all.
And then..the comment that they are in good shape, that they are in the black, have never been in better shape......but what planning for a future that isn't here yet......?
Terence Trent D'arby
9:02 pm on Sunday, February 27, 2011
I'm baffled at how cutting of your M&O staff is ever a smart idea. Even if enrollment drops, the square footage does not.
Miss BH
9:27 pm on Sunday, March 6, 2011
This coming from the man (Dr. Brian Goldberg) that supported Lisa Korbatov's issue with the maintenance at the schools? Isn't BHUSD about education of students but yet they downgrade the Assistant Supt of Instruction to a Director after rewarding Alex Cherniss and Dawnalyn with Assistant Supt of Business and HR title (if I'm not mistaken, didn't the HR position just get raised from Director to Asssitant Supt in the last 2 months?)
And last but not least....HE proposed a CUT in legal fees????? Really?
BTW I may have been a little quick to say Dr. Goldberg was a "man"
Miss BH
9:34 pm on Sunday, March 6, 2011
As far as the MTA...
Remember, the Measure E funds are generated by an item entered on a separate line on the property tax bills of Beverly Hills residents? The funds are also designated to be spent according to the bond language that appeared on the Nov 2008 ballot. The ballot never said ANYTHING bout Metro lawsuit....they are trying to stretch safety and security into that and a $55 million underground parking garage. That's $50,000 a parking space for a high school that keeps cutting it's staff.