Governor’s proposal tough on schools

Lauren Vane

The governor’s budget proposal, issued earlier this month, predicts a

grim financial future for Huntington Beach schools, and, if approved,

translates to millions of dollars in cuts for at least one local

district, school officials said Tuesday.

The Huntington Beach City School District will need to make $2

million in budget cuts as the combination of declining enrollment,

new cost responsibility and the withholding of Proposition 98 funds

create an incredible challenge, school officials said.

“You prepare for the worst, but hope for the best ... and in this

case we got the worst,” said district Supt. Gary Rutherford.

Although the state budget proposal provides for an overall

increase in kindergarten through 12th-grade spending, when all the

variables are considered it could result in drastic cuts for the city

school district, said David Perry, the district’s assistant

superintendent of administrative services.

“It’s going to be close, it’s going to be very difficult,” Perry

said.

The budget proposal allows for an increase in cost of living

adjustment and in reduced deficit funding. However, the proposal goes

sour when it shifts responsibility for the teachers’ retirement costs

from the state onto the school district, resulting in more than

$400,000 that the school district must take on, Perry said.

To add to the crunch, it is unlikely that the school district will

see the Proposition 98 funds it was hoping for, Rutherford said. In

what Rutherford called “the deal,” Gov. Schwarzenegger last year

withheld $2 billion of Proposition 98 dollars, promising the money

would be available this year. Much to the disappoint of California

educators, along with the 2005-06 budget proposal came news that

schools would not be seeing the funds any time soon.

“We’re [going to] have many, many districts go belly up if the

governor’s propositions go into place,” said Carol Berg of School

Services of California, an outside consultant for the school

district. “It’s not a pleasure to give you the bad news that the

governor is giving moment by moment.”

After outlining the hard facts of the situation for school board

members during their meeting Tuesday, Berg offered suggestions on how

to “stop the bleeding.”

Despite the lack of Proposition 98 funds, the Huntington Beach

City School District is actually receiving more money than it

projected, Berg said.

Fortunately, the district budgeted conservatively and was not

depending on the proposition money, Rutherford said.

To maintain adequate budget reserves, Berg advised the district to

increase revenues, by finding a way to increase enrollment, and

decrease expenses.

“You have to be creative,” Berg said. “Unfortunately, we’re the

bearers of bad news. We don’t have any magic pills to solve your

problems.”

“Really this confirmed our worst-case scenario,” Rutherford said.

The school district will have a better understanding of what the

budget cuts could mean after a second presentation from School

Services of California and receiving a demographics report to update

the declining enrollment situation, Perry said.

The superintendent will present a recommendation for further

action at the Feb. 15 board meeting, after he has reviewed the most

recent information, Perry said.

Huntington Beach’s Ocean View School District officials have not

yet reviewed the budget proposal, but are planning a study session in

February, school officials said.

Although Ocean View is not ready to make any determinations on

what will happen as a result of the budget proposal, the district’s

chief financial officer, Mary Lou Beckmann, said the proposal does

not allow for any new programs or expansion on existing programs.

“We’re disappointed that the governor has reneged on some of the

promises he had made to education,” Beckmann said.

Officials are waiting to see just what the future holds.

“We have yet to see what the fallout will be,” said board

President Sharon Holland.

* LAUREN VANE covers education and crime. She can be reached at

(714) 966-4610 or [email protected].