School budget cuts in jeopardy?
When the School Reform Commission approved its $2.18 billion budget for the next school year on May 31, with a $140 million deficit possibly looming, there was much public talk about making $100 million in spending cuts.
When the School Reform Commission approved its $2.18 billion budget for the next school year on May 31, with a $140 million deficit possibly looming, there was much public talk about making $100 million in spending cuts.
But at the same time the district was telling the public it would make drastic cuts, top district finance managers were drafting a document that said at least $60.1 million in specified budget cuts may not be legally possible.
Those $60.1 million in anticipated cuts "are subject to risk and uncertainties due to contractual provisions, possible legal or procedural challenges and the possibility of delay in implementation," the document stated.
The document is a standard notification of risk to investors in advance of the district's sale of $550 million in tax and revenue anticipation notes.
School district spokesman Fernando Gallard said the document is required as a "sort of buyer-beware" statement for potential investors.
But word of the document, which is available to the public but was not released as a public announcement, is causing concern for parent groups who said there is a feeling of "here we go again" only a month before school is to reopen.
If district officials can't cut that $60 million, they ask, then where would they cut?
"We want to know if they are planning . . . [more] budget cuts in the middle of August," said Helen Gym, an activist with Parents United for Public Education.
"What does it mean for our classrooms?" she asked. "There's going to be a lot of problems in our schools."
Gym said parents are especially concerned because the district also fell short in getting extra money as requested from the state and the city.
The district asked for an extra $54 million from the state, but the state provided only $34 million more.
And only $2 million of a pledged $10 million bonus payment from the city next year is guaranteed in the city's five-year plan.
The remaining $8 million could come from the city donating services to the district.
Gallard said the 2007-08 Tax and Revenue Anticipation Notes (TRAN) sale statement is available at the school district headquarters. *
