Albany schools will look for ways to cut $2.2 million
By Barbara Grady-Ayer
California’s huge budget deficit, the dithering of state legislators whose inaction allowed the deficit to climb, the Governor’s disrespect for laws about funding education, and the deep national recession have come to roost in Albany.
These big problems created by adults will soon be placed at the feet of school children trying to learn to read and do algebra.
The Albany Unified School District needs to cut its budget by 15 percent or about $2.2 million dollars this school year, Albany Superintendent of Schools Marla Stephenson told the board of education Tuesday night. School districts need to live within the means set by the state, and in the absence of legislative action, she said, the district can only go by the budget proposed in December by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. In that proposal, the governor ignores the requirements set in law by Proposition 98 on funding education, wiping away about $5 billion owed to the state’s public schools. His budget proposal also eliminates cost-of-living-adjustments for rising costs in school utilities, salaries and supplies.
“We are facing unprecedented difficulties,” Stephenson said. “This is not of your making and not of our making. It is the state of California’s making and the recession,” she told the board. Nonetheless, the district has to plan accordingly.
The Albany Unified School District has been carrying a significant financial reserve of 8 percent and, as recently as October 1, the district thought this reserve could cover whatever cuts came from the state. However since that time, the financial markets collapsed, consumer spending dried up and home sales all but stopped, resulting in a precipitous drop in sales taxes and other revenues to the state.
“What a difference a few months can make,” Stephenson said. “The reduction in revenue is incredible.”
Albany can no longer count on its past reserve because it is not enough. If we were to use it all to cover costs for this year, then the reserve would be wiped to zero for next year. The state requires districts to carry at least a 3 percent reserve. So it has to cut what she estimates to be about $2.2 million in expenses.
Stephenson did not propose specific programs or services to be cut in her presentation to the board last night. Instead, to her credit, Stephenson suggested that decisions by made through involving school principals, teachers and parents in the hard choices about what the schools could live without. To that end she said she will mail a letter to parents this week and plans to meet with school principals.
The biggest problem is there is no evident fat in the AUSD budget. One has only to see the crowded hallways and classrooms at Albany High School or watch the over-worked janitors at Cornell and Marin elementary schools to realize that. One has only to listen to teachers asking parents to please bring in some sharpened pencils and tissues or to donate books to the school library to know that dollars are already stretched tightly in Albany schools.
One possibility Stephenson suggested was that the AUSD could look for spending flexibilities in the three parcel taxes Albany voters have passed since 1987 and hopefully use parcel tax monies to maintain programs. In the end, she wants voters to help make decisions.
“We will need to develop some sort of broad process for you to receive this information from the community,” Stephenson told the board of education. “At the end of the day you will receive a recommendation from me.”
The school board agreed with her idea of shared decision making to find cuts that would be the least painful to schools and students. Board member Miriam Walden advocated that layoffs try to be avoided and that equipment and one-time programs be cut before staff positions. Several board members spoke agreement with that idea.
This is quite an editorial in support of the superintendent. However, the reality is the money is available if the superintendent will reconsider her support for two large swimming pools, a proposal that was not contemplated in Measure E.
In an email Ms. Stephenson called my proposal “interesting” but has not acted on it, just as she has declined to make available many of the documents that were used to come up with the current over-budget proposal.
Below is my proposal. The numbers are for discussion purposes, but clearly the budget for a Measure E level of expenditure would leave substantial funds left over.
Ms. Stephenson indicated that the new cafeteria would actually cost under $100,000, so potentially even more money would be available. Currently, the outdoor pool is said to cost just $1.6 million, so I may be close to correct in terms of paying for the extras that I am suggesting. With the extra money from the cafeteria, the $1.6 million outdoor pool could become a $2.6 million enhanced structure and still my budget would be millions of dollars less than the current proposal.
1. New outdoor pool structure $2,330,000
2. New PERMANENT CLASSROOMS, $1,800,000
3. Cafeteria, $500,000
4. Pool office space in TEMPORARY STRUCTURE, $50,000
5. Demolition $320,000
6. Soft costs, $1,000,000
TOTAL = $6,000,000
Reserves $4,000,000
The pool building structure would include a cover for inclement weather. Since El Cerrito does not have a cover, this could bring in extra revenue. The pool might be 10 lanes so that lap swimmers could use two lanes while the swim team or water polo team is using the pool.
There could also be a small warm pool/therapy pool that would also have various kinds of sprays that would be attractive to small children. This would be similar to what El Cerrito has and what Berkeley is considering.
Like Ira, I also went to watch the Bond Oversight Comittee meeting that was held in the Cornell school library Thursday night. With the passage of Measure E, the AUSD would issue bonds for up to $10MM to replace the community pool. While the AUSD does have an estimate for dividing up the various projects to reach $10MM, no bonds have been issued, no design completed, no construction started. So, it’s a little early to say that the pool project is over budget!
Measure E is clear that no pool bond proceeds can be used for any other purpose than the community pool improvement project (see the Bond Project List) and specifically excludes any other purpose, “such as teacher and administrator salaries nor operating expenses.”
So, this appears to be an insurmountable impediment to applying bond proceeds toward an AUSD reserve.
The preliminary proposal and drawings show a fabulous swim center–hopefully as successful as Cougar Field turned out — a real jewel of an athletic field complex. The committee plans to post the drawings on the web.
There does seem to be some legitimate questions about whether the current proposed configuration complies with the Bond Project List.
The Bond Oversight Committee — in the mentioned meeting — agreed to request that bond counsel confirm that the current proposed configuration complies with the Bond Project List. Maybe there has been squeezing of some and expansion of other items on the list, but I suspect the counsel will confirm that there is sufficient flexibility built into the Measure E language to allow the current configuration (which is spectacular).
People who believe that one pool should be shrunk to allow for more classrooms should continue to lobby for their optimal configuration. Apply pressure! Fight for what you think should have greater priority!
The Superintendent (who shows great command of the issues) also indicated at the meeting that she wants a complex that is as “green” as possible and takes full advantage of solar energy, for example. That aspect may have to be integrated with other parts of the high school as a greater area than the new pool complex provides would be required for the large number of panels.
But, alas, due to the current bond market issues, apparently the AUSD will wait for a more propitious time to issue the bonds, and the schedule likely will slip as a consequence thereof. Too bad. But maybe our pool project will be considered shovel ready enough to get some stimulus package money! Wouldn’t that be grand.
Maybe our current Mayor Marge Atkinson could use her connections with Representative Barbara Lee to get us on the list of shovel ready projects for funding under a national stimulus package.
The bottom line is because the Board wants to build an “extravagant” facility (to use David Glasser’s term) Marla is putting off selling the bonds. That means all work on the pool project will stop. Marla also said that the pool will not be completed in September 2010. It could easily be delayed a year or more.
Marla is gambling that interest rates will go down but with the US government printing money at an unprecedented rate and local governments in distress, interest rates could actually increase sharply.
Moreover, if the project is delayed and Obama funds many new construction projects in the interim, building costs may also increase sharply.
Instead the Board could go back to what was envisioned in Measure E. The district could build a 10 lane lap pool and a small warm pool for children and people with physical challenges.
Multiple classrooms could also be built.
It may take another bond issue, but there would then be several million dollars left over for the emergency.
Right now we may only have a ditch for several more years, assuming a way is found to demolish the crumbling old pool building.
Why does a community of 16,000 need 16 pool lanes? No study has been presented to the public to justify spending all available bond money for two pools when the district is in a state of crisis.
Bill,
A couple of errors in what you wrote.
1) Measure E says the money should be spent on classrooms and the two pools.
2) Using steel and concrete creates very large amounts of green house gasses. So the less you build with steel and concrete the less green house gasses you create.
Bill, two above shows one of the reasons I favor outdoor pools, the second major reason is this is California and we can swim outside year around.
Bill, one of the reasons I have asked for the building plans of the high school is to put solar water heaters on top if it can support the mass. From the plans I would be able to calculate this thus saving even more money by making the heating total renewable source and cheaper than the current addition of the gas furnace.
Bill, perhaps Marge Atkinson could allow us to use city park land for a second pool. This would still allow the school to have room for more classrooms. The community could then have a pool on community land.
Bill, with the budget crunch more students mean more money so having more classrooms helps. This was Dr. Wong’s thinking for the last eight years while running the district. We will not be able to do this if there is no room.
Bill, I wonder why you say the super has great command. I can think of nobody who is doing a worse job in this district. She did not open the process of spending money correctly with a well balanced BOC. Again Dr. Wong would have asked the AHS PTA to hold an election on who would sit on the BOC. The super is saying we will get $500K from the state next year. That is very risky since, well look at the state right now! This could produce extra cost in renting the trailer classrooms. Bill, the super acts like Bush and refuses to release information that could potential save large amounts of money. It would be nice to have a new Obama supporter in her place. All the information I have asked for should have taken 30 minutes total to get on the web site and would help us figure a way to save money. Bill, the super is doing a very poor job.
In Peace,
Andy
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