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Friday's Internet Edition, November 21, 2008.
Closing the budget gap
Elementary school district reduces classified staff and considers new math curriculum
By Kymm Griffin
Staff Writer
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The district has long been cautioning that closing the $2.4 million budget deficit would not be easy and that tough choices would have to be made. On Monday, the district held a special board meeting that approved the reduction in classified staff by 12.15 positions. The board also approved taking the next step in the new math curriculum adoption process, but buying new math curriculum could also be affected by the reduced budget.
“We’re looking at any budget area that we can draw a savings from,” said Jim Bauler, assistant superintendent. “We’re not finished yet.”
Classified staff reductions are expected to save the district $700,000. The reduced positions include administrators and classified staff. In March the district laid off 12.15 teachers for a savings of $569,967.
“It helps but it doesn’t get us all of the way there,” said Bauler.
Next week the state government will release its revised budget for next year. The district will then have more clarity about continued necessary cuts. Working with the estimated $2.4 million shortfall, the district estimates that they have closed the gap by about 50 percent.
“We have to rely on additional reduction in expenses or rely on the reserve to cover it,” said Bauler.
The reduction in classified staff will affect mainly Fairsite Elementary and Greer Elementary.
“We’re looking at schools with smaller enrollments. That would be Fairsite and Greer because of the fewer students,” said Bauler.
The next item on the agenda was to move forward with the community review of the proposed new math curriculum. The curriculum has been thoroughly examined by teachers, administrators, and parents to ensure that it not only follows state required standards, but also meets the desired rigor that provides a quality education.
The math adoption is part of a state scheduled process that allocates money to purchase new curriculum every year. Last year the district purchased new science curriculum. This year’s math adoption is the first math adoption since statewide standards were introduced.
With the current state budget projections, it does not look like the state will provide enough money to cover the full cost of the curriculum.
“It’s doesn’t cover the full cost,” said Bauler.
This is requiring the district to ask some hard questions about what is needed for next year.
“What can we do with the math adoption that can save us some money?” and “Do we need to purchase all of it?” are some of the questions, according to Bauler that the district cabinet members are asking themselves.
As the district looks to balance the budget, there is also the increased benchmarks in California STAR math scores to be considered. Starting this year and continuing until 2014, the benchmark of students who test at proficient or better increases by 10 percent every year. Without reaching these benchmark scores, the district as a whole could fall into Program Improvement under No Child Left Behind.
The next regularly scheduled board meeting is Ma
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