District braces for budget cuts
By Joann Groff  joann@theacorn.com

After more than a year debating the school closure process, Conejo Valley Unified District is now focusing on perhaps an equally difficult issue. With Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposing $4.8 billion in education cutbacks, CVUSD is now tackling the task of operating on a tighter budget.

Dep. Superintendent Jeff Baarstad presented a first look at possible cuts at a recent school board meeting. At this point, Baarstad said the district is looking to cut about 5.1 percent of its $158-million budget, or about $8 million.

"We have a lot of work to do in a very short amount of time," Baarstad said.

Right off the bat, the district is looking at saving $3.5 million by eliminating 14 teaching positions because of declining enrollment ($830,000), using funds from a workers' compensation account ($1.75 million) and deferring an annual maintenance contribution ($920,000).

The district spends about 63 percent of its budget on teachers and nearly 15 percent on classified personnel. Twelve percent is spent on nonpersonnel expenses, 6.7 percent on administration and about 3 percent on counselors, psychologists and nurses.

The district office spends about $12.6 million, which includes $686,000 on the board and the superintendent's office, $2.9 million in business services, $2.6 million in personnel services and $6.3 million in instruction.

In his presentation, Baarstad recommended cutting the office's budget by 6 percent, which would yield a $760,000 savings.

District level support spends about $43.2 million--about $23.8 million on special education, $6.4 million on maintenance and operations, $5 million on utilities, $2 million each on transportation and technology services and $3.6 million in miscellaneous services. Baarstad recommended cutting 4 percent, which would mean about $1.7 million in savings.

Lastly, school sites spend about $103 million, and Baarstad is recommending cutting 2 percent, which would yield about $2 million in savings.

"It's easy to say cut more from the district office and keep the school sites completely safe," Baarstad said. "Fortunately, we spend most of our money at school sites, so it's hard to keep them completely out of this."

"Primarily, this is going to be people losing their jobs (at the district office)."

Next, the district will conduct a variety of feedback meetings with the teachers union, the district advisory council, principals and other groups. A first draft will be developed and presented in early May. A final draft is expected to be voted on May 20.

"I think what I see here is telling us loud and clear that we're trying to keep the cuts away from the classroom door," said board member Tim Stephens.