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February 22, 2010 (El Cajon) --Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s preliminary budget, released in January, will force more deep cuts for local schools. Tomorrow evening, Cajon Valley School Board will weigh how to cope with $3.5 million in new revenue reductions that the Governor’s budget would mean for the District---on top of a $6 million shortfall that the Board was already anticipating.
The Governor recommended an ongoing reduction of $191 per ADA (average daily attendance) as well as slashing the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) by -.38%.
Last year, the District was forced to cut expenditures by $7.8 million due to the state budget crisis. The new revenue reductions, coupled with already anticipated reductions needed, could mean slashing $9.5 million from the budget.
View the board's 2010 budget presentation here.
One concerned parent, who asked that her name be withheld, told ECM that she fears class sizes will be increased even more. “Last year, they cut teachers’ positions, so K-3 classroom size increased from 20 to 25 kids per teacher,” she said. “They closed Cuyamaca school and over 60 teachers lost their position. We have some extremely poor performing schools,” she added, noting that her own child attends one of the better schools in the district.
“Our school no longer has a nurse or librarian,” she said, adding that when a water pipe sprung a leak recently, parents learned that the District had only one plumber to serve its 26 schools. “We don’t have any fat to cut,” she concluded.” I don’t know what the answer is.”
The meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Cajon Valley School District headquarters,750
East Main Street in El Cajon. The budget discussion is item 58 on the agenda.
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