Conejo School District fights to save jobs, keep programs alive

As districts all over the state struggle to slash their budgets further, Conejo Valley Unified School District continues to dig for ways to keep programs afloat and jobs intact.

In a meeting last week, Dep. Superintendent Jeff Baarstad said that the district will need to cut an additional $4.75 million next month alone.

This amount is in addition to the $5 million CVUSD had already been informed it needed to cut, as well as another $400,000 for the 200910 school year, totaling more than $10 million.

The $400,000 could increase to $2 million depending on the reduction of Proposition 98—a ballot initiative that passed in 1988 to mandate that 40 percent of the state's general fund go to education.

The school board already approved cutting $3 million from the 2009-10 budget with district office and site program reductions. An additional $1.1 million will be saved with a two-day work year reduction, which was also approved at a past meeting. The remaining gap is nearly $6 million.

The district is hoping for $8 million in stimulus and restabilization funds, and there's been talk of how to use it. Baarstad shared the recommendation of the budget committee with the school board: that they use the maximum amount of stimulus monies this year and not save any for next.

"They were unanimous in recommending the board not make any further cuts this year," Baarstad said. "They do that with the understanding that that will mean deeper cuts in 2010 and 2011. The whole district community—the staff, parents—have been involved in this budget cutting process for six months. They are worn out.

"To cut another one or two million would be demoralizing right now, and probably wouldn't result in the best decisions."

The district will also sweep the remaining $4 million from its "rainy day fund." Other monies will need to come from any programs available or workers' compensation funds to protect the remaining 3 percent of the district's reserves.

All the proposed ideas are only one-time fixes, Baarstad said, and the district will have a recurring $4.75-million deficit to the 2009-10 school year.

"Except for the grace of the federal money, we'd be making some horribly difficult decisions right now," Baarstad said. "This at least gives us some time."

Baarstad said he predicts the 2010-11 and 2011-12 school years will also be extremely tough. Projections show that the national and state economies will be healthier in 2013, and that's when education will start seeing the money come back.