Budget Cuts Coming to BHUSD

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 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.