Tuesday night’s school board meeting was another roundtable discussion focusing on exactly what cuts to the budget the district will make come January. The board needs to reduce the school budget by $1,026,000 to cover the state’s “fair share” grab of school funds. Justin Frese, assistant superintendent of business for the district prepared a laundry list of proposed cuts and presented it to trustees and meeting attendees.
The list in its entirety is on the district Web site but some of the items include: reducing Sonoma Valley Adult School by 25 percent which represents a savings of more than $85,000; eliminating two days from the school calendar saving $232,000; modifying the teen parent program to the tune of $20,000; and reducing transportation services, saving in the neighborhood of $100,000. Maintenance and operations will most likely take a hit as will summer school, among other things.
Additionally, a one-time agreement to eliminate the 2 percent raise for teachers has already been ratified by the Valley of the Moon Teachers Association.
The list was laid out in four sections, the first of which are recommended cuts to reach the $1,026,000 figure. The other three tiers depicted a series of leveled backup plans for further cuts, should the state come back for more. Frese was quick to point out there were no plans to implement cuts from the bottom tiers at this point. “If we need to make further cuts, we will need to regroup and rethink our strategy at that time, not just make the cuts in rank order,” said Frese.
Overall, comments from the board were as positive as they could be given the circumstances. Nicole Abate Ducarroz called Frese’s proposal thoughtful, innovative, transparent and insightful. “It’s also obvious that we need to be more efficient in everything we do,” said Ducarroz.
The one proposed cut most trustees took umbrage at — the notion of cutting days from the school calendar. “I really hate to give up those days,” said Trustee Dan Gustufson. “It’s hard to endorse this idea when we were recently talking about extending the school year to increase student achievement.”
Newly approved school board President Helen Marsh reiterated the sentiment and also lamented the long term viability of the idea from a recruiting standpoint. “Cutting school days means we’re not paying our employees which, in the long run, is a bad idea. We need to remain competitive in terms of teachers’ salaries. It’s also not good for our students.”
Trustee Gary DeSmet was pushing for more severe cuts to the adult education program wondering whether providing it was a necessity or a nicety. Adult School Principal Pam Garramone gave an overview of the four components of the school: community education, adult core education, career and technical courses and English language instruction. Due to budget constraints, the adult school has already taken significant hits to core programs like the loss of the adults with disabilities program and the connection to Becoming Independent.
Marsh summed up saying the board needs to think in terms of quality over quantity where instruction in concerned. “We need to determine what our core subjects are. It’s clear that extracurricular activities are important. Now, we need to figure out the rest and move forward.” The next regular school board meeting will be held January 12 at 6:30 p.m. in the community Meeting Room, 177 First Street West. There will be a budget item on the agenda. The public is encouraged to attend.
