The majority (77%) of funds spent on outside vendors is
restricted in use by law and cannot be used to address the
district’s budget deficit. This includes services such as Special
Education and federally mandated tutoring for students in Program
Improvement schools.
For example, in 2010-11, all SCUSD contracted services totaled
$36.9 million. Of this, the following funds went to mandated or
restricted programs, meaning they could not under any
circumstances be used to balance our budget:
$17.9 million to non-public schools (for the placement of
students with special needs as required by law)
$8 million to programs paid for by categorical (restricted)
funds, such as Title I, Title III and Economic Impact Aid
$2.4 million to federally mandated after-school Supplemental
Educational Support (SES) tutoring
$259,000 to schools directly
Of the remaining $8.3 million in unrestricted funds:
$3.7 million went to fund an incentive for former employees
(mostly certificated staff) who retired early to save the
District money
$1.5 million went to Sacramento Police Department for school
resource officers in high schools and middle schools
$660,000 went to legal fees, including litigation defense
$139,890 went to insurance costs, including liability
insurance for all district schools and employees
$129,000 was used for the district’s automated telephone
parent notification system
$100,000 went to the Department of Justice for fingerprinting
of potential employees and volunteers
For 2012-13, SCUSD is aggressively reducing costs associated with
contracts to vendors in areas that can affect the deficit.
Nineteen contracts will be reduced and/or eliminated entirely in
2012-13. Click
here for a complete breakdown on contracted services for the
last five years and to learn which contracts are being reduced
and/or eliminated next year.
To balance a recession-ravaged state budget, the legislature has
slashed funding to K-12 education by $18 billion in the last four
years. This means schools aren’t even getting the funding they
are constitutionally guaranteed (click here
to see a chart on this). California now ranks 46th in the nation
in per-pupil spending. For 2012-13, Governor Brown is proposing
“flat funding” for schools, or funding at last year’s level. But
flat funding isn’t really flat – it’s less. That’s because costs
continue to rise. SCUSD will pay more next year for employee
health insurance, classroom supplies, electricity, fuel,
etc. In addition, we will receive fewer state dollars next
year due to declining enrollment, a problem faced by many
districts in aging urban neighborhoods, and the loss of federal
one-time funds.
In 2011-12, the district brought back as many laid off counselors
and teachers as possible. Of the 408 certificated employees who
were pink-slipped, we rehired 368. The more teachers we have the
smaller our class sizes. Reserves of $13.95 million were set
aside to restore programs and $12 million of the reserve was used
for this purpose. The remaining reserves were used to offset $2.5
million in mid-year state budget “trigger” reductions for
2011-12.
The state’s reduction in our funding, rising costs, declining
enrollment, loss of one-time federal funds and the use of
district reserves to restore positions and programs and offset
trigger cuts has led to the projected deficit.
In 2011-12, the district brought back as many laid off counselors
and teachers as possible. Of the 408 certificated employees who
were pink-slipped, we rehired 368. The more teachers we have the
smaller our class sizes. Reserves of $13.95 million were set
aside to restore programs and $12 million of the reserve was used
for this purpose. The remaining reserves were used to offset $2.5
million in mid-year state budget “trigger” reductions for
2011-12.
In addition, unlike the other districts, we have created new art
and music programs, expanded existing art and music programs and
worked to keep as many school libraries staffed and open as
possible.
We have to submit a balanced budget to the Sacramento County
Office of Education (SCOE) by March 15. In a departure from
previous years, SCOE is further requiring that we balance our
budget without assumptions about negotiated employee
contributions. We can only list expense reductions that can
be made without any action other than Board of Education
approval.
On January 12, we presented a list of reductions of the Board. It
includes five furlough days next year for all unrepresented
employees, the further down-sizing of Central Office staff,
freezing step-and-column increases for all unrepresented
employees and the reduction of Central Office operating costs.
This is in addition to the over $5 million hit that the Central
Office has taken over the past two years.
We also propose reducing contracts to outside vendors, and, in
fact, eliminating many contracts altogether. Please note that we
cannot eliminate contracts that we are mandated by law to uphold,
such as SES tutoring and Special Education services. We are also
reducing categorically funded contracts such as those paid for by
Title 1 money, even though those savings won’t impact our General
Fund deficit.
These moves are a start, but get us only a fraction of the
savings needed to achieve a balanced budget.
To make up the rest, and given SCOE’s constraint that our budget
includes no assumptions about negotiated employee contributions,
we are forced to list cuts that will decimate programs, hurt
instruction, hurt schools and directly impact kids. The list is
terrible and includes the elimination of counselors and
librarians and the raising of class sizes. Click here
to see the full list of reductions. Please keep in mind that we
have until June 30 to finalize our budget.
Unfortunately, the projected $28 million deficit appears to be
the best-case scenario. Under Governor Brown’s January budget
proposal, public school districts will receive “flat funding”
(see Question #2) that is contingent on
voters passing a statewide initiative to raise taxes in November.
This measure would increase income taxes on the wealthiest
Californians and raise the sales tax. Revenue raised would be
used to restore cash deferrals to districts only – at this point,
it appears there would be no new dollars for schools generated by
the measure’s passage. If voters reject the measure – or if it
fails to qualify for the ballot – districts would face mid-year
“trigger cuts” in early 2013. Education finance experts are
recommending school districts budget for a $370 per student
reduction in revenue to account for the potential trigger cuts.
In our district, that would mean an additional $15 million in
cuts, on top of the $28 million already anticipated, for a total
of $43 million. Failing to submit a balanced budget to the
Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) will result in a
“negative” rating and create a substantial risk of a state fiscal
takeover of our district.
If the district fails to submit a balanced budget to the
Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) for both the current
and upcoming two school years, the district risks receiving a
“negative” rating from SCOE which very possibly could lead to
state takeover of the district. Unlike past years, SCOE is
directing our district to provide a balanced budget without any
assumptions about negotiated employee contributions, although we
have until the end of June to make any adjustments before the
budget is finalized. We will be working with our collective
bargaining partners on solutions to our deficit that would allow
us to save programs and positions.
If our district were to receive a “negative” rating and fall into
state receivership, all decisions having financial impacts on our
schools would be taken out of the hands of our locally elected
school board. The state trustee would have the authority to
unilaterally make decisions to balance our budget without direct
accountability to our community. Local concerns are
normally not a priority for a state trustee.
The district did not freeze “step and column” increases to any
eligible employees for 2011-12, including teachers,
administrators or other staff. No person employed by the district
received a “bonus” of any kind. Additionally, unrepresented staff
– including management – is taking three furlough days this year,
as are many of our employees, which is the equivalent of a 1.2
percent pay reduction. Adjustments were made to the wages of two
Cabinet members who had been working “out of class” for two
years, meaning that these employees performed jobs for two years
at a lower paid grade than others who perform the same work.
These adjustments were funded through department budget
reductions in corresponding departments.
The Superintendent has not received a raise since his arrival in
July 2009.
The proposed list of cuts for 2012-13 begins with five furlough
days for all unrepresented/non-union employees – including
management – as well as a freeze of step and column increases for
those workers.
The state’s underfunding of education has caused all school
districts to cut expenditures. Some made deep cuts for this
school year (2011-12) to increase fund balances and maintain
larger reserves, which impacted classrooms. SCUSD instead
restored positions and programs as much as possible to maintain
and improve teaching and learning in our schools.
In addition, some surrounding districts have experienced steady
enrollment or even small enrollment increases, which have
stabilized their budgets because state funding is based on the
average daily attendance of students. Like other districts
located in aging urban neighborhoods, SCUSD’s enrollment has been
steadily shrinking, as many young families with children opt to
live in new subdivisions in the suburbs.
Although all revenue is welcome, Lottery money represents only a
fraction of SCUSD’s budget. In 2011-12, for example, just 1.5
percent of the district’s revenue came from Lottery funds. This
$6.17 million was put into the General Fund, which is used to pay
employee salaries, benefits and other expenses.
The district employs a cafeteria manager who is paid from federal
nutrition funds – money that cannot be used to pay teachers or to
balance our budget. In addition to overseeing the Serna Center
cafeteria which is open to all employees, the cafeteria manager
and staff prepare and distribute lunches to students enrolled at
the Success Academy and the Accelerated Academy – programs housed
in the building next door. They also prepare lunches for students
attending The Met, one of SCUSD’s small high schools. The
cafeteria manager and staff also provide a service to the
parents, students, teachers and community members who take part
in the many events and community meetings that take place at the
Serna Center (and other district facilities) each year by
offering an affordable and convenient dining option. Lunches in
the cafeteria are not free to administrators; Serna Center
employees pay for the food they eat.
Superintendent Raymond’s total annual compensation is $241,628 –
the sixth lowest salary among the superintendents of the 17
largest school districts in the state. The superintendents of
neighboring Elk Grove and San Juan Unified have higher wages than
Superintendent Raymond and receive compensation for benefits.
Superintendent Raymond, like all other unrepresented management
in SCUSD, pays for 100 percent of his own health benefits. The
Superintendent has not received a raise since his arrival in July
2009. In addition, Superintendent Raymond is taking three
furlough days this year.
In his January budget proposal, Governor Brown has eliminated
funding for transitional kindergarten, a two-year program for
some of California’s youngest learners. SCUSD has Early Kinder
classes at five schools: Alice Birney, Leonardo da Vinci,
Harkness, Theodore Judah and Bancroft/Jefferson. As of now, it is
unclear whether these programs will be affected by the proposed
elimination of state funding. There have been suggestions that
districts already offering transitional kindergarten be
“grandfathered in,” meaning allowed to continue to receive funds.
As more information becomes available, we will update this
answer. At this point we are planning to continue with these five
sites.
SCUSD is working hard to aggressively seek out strategic
partnerships, find new funding sources, leverage our resources,
streamline our volunteering process and create more volunteer
opportunities and access points.
In addition, we are cutting costs and marketing successful
programs to increase enrollment. These programs include Hmong,
Chinese and Spanish language immersion classes, the Integrated
Thematic Instructional program at O.W. Erlewine, high school
Linked Learning academies, a Sacramento Pathways partnership with
Sacramento State and one of the only Waldorf-methods high schools
in the country – George Washington Carver School of Arts and
Science. We are working hard to improve teaching and learning in
all of our schools to retain our families and build up programs.
SCUSD is exploring local revenue options and playing a key role
in advocating with state representatives for better K-12 funding.
We continue to work together with all employee groups to find
workable budget solutions that put the interests of children
first.
In lieu of taking furlough days, as other employees do, the
Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA) agreed to contribute
$95 a month to the district from July 2010 through June 30 of
this year. As 10-month employees, this contribution totals
$950 annually. SCTA also agreed to have teachers contribute
$15 a month toward our unfunded retiree health insurance
liability in 2010-11 and $20 a month in 2011-12, for a total of
$350 over a two-year period. This also expires June 30. It
was SCTA’s proposal to make this contribution to help protect
retiree health benefits. An account separate from the
district’s general fund was created to hold these funds.
In the spring of 2010, Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA) agreed to give $95 per month back to the district in lieu of furlough days, with the goal of keeping class sizes at 25-to-1 in grades K-3.
The agreement states:
“SCTA unit members shall contribute the equivalent of three (3) days of salaries in each of the two years 2010-11 and 2011-12 only. It is estimated that this has a value between $2.1 million and $2.4 million of unrestricted dollars in each year. This contribution shall be made through monthly employee payroll deductions in a flat dollar amount of $95 per month for 10 months from each employee for each of the two years. The Parties will explore a pass through or donation mechanism. The savings the District derives from this contribution shall be applied to restoring K-3 class size reduction (CSR) with a goal of achieving a ratio of 1:25 for the two year period. With the restoration of K-3 CSR employees, preparation time shall be provided with existing staff at no additional cost to the District.”
SCTA’s contribution of $95 a month per member amounts to $2.2 million annually, which does not cover the expense of retaining a 25-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio in all four primary grades. For 2011-12, the limit in grades 2 and 3 was raised by four students to 29.
Among the proposed cuts to balance the district’s budget deficit
for 2012-13 is the elimination of Adult Education programs that
are not self-supporting. These cuts, if approved, would take
effect for 2012-13. Students in the culinary arts program, which
ends July 1, would be allowed to finish. However, if the cuts are
approved, there would be no new enrollees for the fall of
2012-13.
An Adult Education Advisory Committee made up of students, staff
and community members is meeting to put together a plan for how
specific programs would be affected by cuts.
The Balanced Literacy approach to language arts is already
improving student performance in our district, and SCUSD is
planning to take this successful approach to all schools. To do
so, the district needs to build the capacity of its staff,
meaning develop teachers, staff, administrators and others who
are well-versed in Balanced Literacy and who can teach others. To
this end, we have included district instructional support staff
in trainings so they can provide on-going coaching support and
facilitate Balanced Literacy in years to come. These
instructional coaches are skilled, veteran classroom teachers
from our schools who are working with sites to develop “best
practices” in all areas of teaching and learning.
This will help us reduce and/or eliminate the need for external
contractors. Site leaders have also begun professional
development on Balanced Literacy to learn about instructional
leadership to support implementation.
As we gather feedback on our professional development programs,
we are making adjustments to reflect concerns of participants.
This includes examining the length of Balanced Literacy
workshops.
Do you have a budget question, suggestion, or heard a rumor? Fill
out our contact form. We will be posting answers to questions
here on the budget news page as
well as our facebook
page.
