School Expert Says State Funding Can't Get Much Worse

As the Beverly Hills Unified School District grapples with budget cuts from the state, parents should be comforted by this sobering thought: It cannot get much worse, according to an expert in California school finance.

“I can’t tell you today how much money you will have [from the state] when the school year ends in a few months,” Ronald Bennett, president and CEO of School Services of California Inc., told BHUSD board members at a public meeting last week. “Don’t wait for the state to give you a worm. You have to find ways to help yourselves.”

School Services is a firm that provides consulting services to public school districts in California, and Bennett has seen prior cuts in state funding during his 30 years in education. The current budget cuts are about as bad as it can get, he said.

California already cut millions in funding to school districts for the upcoming school year. The BHUSD is facing more than $1.5 million in cuts to its 2011-12 budget due to this reduced funding; board members have had to to teachers, clerical staff, maintenance workers and at least one administrator.

Still, as a district, most of BHUSD’s budget comes from local property taxes, not from the state. But under California law, even basic aid districts must receive a minimum of $110 per student. With about 4,200 students in the district, BHUSD should receive at least $450,000 in state funding under current law.

Bennett spoke at the meeting as part of a presentation on , a budget method favored by school board President Lisa Korbatov and Vice President Brian Goldberg. With a zero-based budget, or ZBB, the board would start with a budget of zero and add from there, based on spending priorities, until the available funds are exhausted.

Most California school districts do not follow a ZBB. They take their existing budget to use as a base for the next year and then subtract services based on the funds available.

It isn’t clear that Bennett’s talk persuaded the three remaining board members to endorse a ZBB. But regardless of the budget process the district ultimately uses, Bennett said forming clear priorities is crucial.

“Setting priorities will keep your strategic plan from the hundreds of other strategic plans that sit on the shelf and never get opened,” Bennett said, referring to long-term agendas that school districts follow.

It is certainly a time-consuming process to set specific priorities rather than follow the same budget parameters as in previous years, but it must be done. I hope that board members take Bennett’s advice and create clear objectives that match the educational goals of the district.

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