Lucia Mar faces millions in budget trims

‘Drastic cuts’ will be needed to meet state requirements for reserves, district official says

By AnnMarie Cornejo

The Lucia Mar school board will have to cut more than $2.3 million from its budget in the next two years to meet state financial requirements, according to district staff.

District board members are expected at their meeting tonight to commit to $1.9 million in cuts before the next school year.

More cuts to the $59 million annual budget at San Luis Obispo County’s largest school district would need to follow before the 2009-10 academic year.

The school board could try to close the shortfall by charging parents for school busing, reducing nonteaching staff such as janitors and librarians and spending less money on high school electives.

Lucia Mar could have $4 million less annual revenue by the next school year because of declining enrollment and proposed cuts at the state level.

Fewer students mean less money for the district because Lucia Mar is paid according to how many children are enrolled in South County schools.

Lucia Mar’s budgets through the next two school years presume that by the 2009-10 fiscal year, the district won’t be able to meet the state’s 3 percent required reserve.

District staff has proposed cutting budgets at all school campuses across the board by 10 percent for three straight years. That would save $73,000 each school year.

That money proposed to be cut is typically used to help buy classroom supplies and help fund individual programs such as band, FFA, speech and athletics.

The district would also withhold money dedicated annually to vocational programs and maintenance and technology to help trim the budget shortfall.

However, some of those funds can only be used once to help offset the shortfall, and future cuts could be needed.

In April, Lucia Mar’s board is expected to consider a feasibility study for charging families for busing to and from school and for athletic trips.

Interim Superintendent Bill Brand said the Lucia Mar district has avoided teacher layoffs because the rate of declining student enrollment continues to match the number of teachers retiring.

Ten fewer teachers will be needed because of declining enrollment next school year. However, 11 teachers are expected to retire, he said.

“We are not in a crisis level at all,” Brand said. “We are solid for this year and the second year.

“But the bottom line is that we will have to continue to make drastic cuts,” he added. “We cannot classify the third year’s reserve as stable enough to run the district in light of economic uncertainties. That is where the cuts become brutal.”

Julian Crocker, county schools superintendent, said that at least half of the county’s 10 school districts face the same situation and will not be able to meet the mandated reserves by the 2009-10 school year.