Mt. Diablo board cuts positions at superintendent’s office instead of school sites (Clayton Pioneer)

By Andre Gensburger
Clayton Pioneer
February 02, 2009

On Jan. 27, the Mt. Diablo Unified School District Board of Education met to continue the task of cutting $6.6 million from the budget.

After listening to many speak against specific cuts, the board majority voted in opposition to Superintendent Gary McHenry’s suggestion to eliminate six vice principals to cut more than $1 million from the budget. Instead, they voted to cut six directors and assistant directors from the district office. That includes those responsible for curriculum, student services, personnel, technology and alternative education. Trustees Dick Allen and Linda Mayo voted against the cuts. The actual cut of the seven positions from 16 available will come from a list McHenry will supply, placing jobs in a priority order. McHenry was visibly upset by the board action. Despite his protestation that it is “an impossible task,” McHenry was instructed to bring the list to the Feb. 10 board meeting.

In defending the cuts, new board member Sherry Whitmarsh said she hoped to keep cuts “further away from the classroom,” although she believed that every cut will ultimately affect students.

The board also decided to eliminate the superintendent’s administrative assistant, Sue Berg, who also serves as the district’s communications specialist. McHenry called the move “totally unreasonable,” but the board voted in a similar 3-2 vote to make the change effective at the end of the school year.

Looking at the big picture.

At a Jan. 21 education forum, board members Paul Strange and Gary Eberhart met with the public to explain the severity of funding issues in education today.

Strange compared Mt. Diablo’s unrestricted revenue per student of $6,189 to Acalanes’ unrestricted revenue per student of $7,775. “If we had that amount per year, we would have over $54 million more per year,” he said.

Mid-year cuts have created havoc due to contracts in place that cannot be voided. “Ninety percent of our budget is payroll,” Eberhart said. “We hire prior to the school year, and they are guaranteed a job until June.”

Fearing the state may request nearly $11 million in additional cuts in the mid-year budget, Eberhart asked: “How?”

“Since all of our certificated employees are covered until June and our classified employees need 45 days notice, we can’t do anything,” Strange added.

Teachers need to get noticed by March 15 if there is a potential for having their job cut. “Notices may be going to all our employees,” Eberhart said. “We have to balance the budget.”

Items on the potential chopping block include high school sports, dance, music and other enrichment programs designed for a well-rounded education. The board majority is opposed to starting those cuts just yet. “School is supposed to be a rich educational experience,” Eberhart said. “You can’t have that without these programs. We don’t have counselors anymore. That falls on the teachers. The needs of the students today are huge.”

Noting that there has been much concern over a potential loss of high school sports, Eberhart noted: “I don’t believe that there will be any movement to cut athletics during this year’s first round of cuts. Now if the state comes back to us and tells us that we must cut another $11 million out of the budget, we will likely have to look at ways to reduce the cost of athletics or increase revenue.”

Two-thirds rule too restrictive.

At the district level, there have been discussions of a parcel tax to generate revenue. Based on a poll, Strange believes a parcel tax could only be in the $100-$200 range, resulting in $7.5-$15 million in revenue. Though it could stem the losses, he said it does little to increase overall funding. For that, new legislation would be required – again facing the obstacle of a two-thirds vote to be approved.

“We are cutting bone and marrow right now,” Craig Cheslog stated at the education forum. Cheslog is district director for Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, who is seeking election as state superintendent of public education. Cheslog noted that despite having the most stringent education standards in the country, the state ranks 47th in the nation and is well on its way to last place “unless we fix the two-thirds vote requirement.” Calling the state budget process “designed to fail,” he added: “Are we really surprised at where we are at?”

On his Website, Torlakson says the state can’t be shortsighted and “simply cut our way out of the budget hole.”

“Education is economic stimulus,” he said. “We will only turn our economy around by providing a skilled workforce that allows California to compete.”

Cheslog believes that if there is to be any progress toward finding solutions to the budget crisis, it lies in removing the two-thirds rule – a task that itself requires a two-third vote to approve.

“We are working toward being ready to place a parcel tax on the ballot as soon as June of this year,” Eberhart said on the MDUSD blog. “If there is no election in June, we will be ready for November of this year. There have already been several parcel tax meetings that community members have participated in.”

Referring to a smaller parcel tax, Eberhart said: “The solution is out there and it will require that we each give $10 or $20 per month to our kids. Is that too high a price?”

The district may receive some funding through President Obama’s Economic Stimulus Package, although at this writing the amount is uncertain.

This latest round of budget cuts brings the total cuts for the 2009-’10 budget to about $5.8 million, with additional cuts expected once the state submits a revised mid-year budget. The district listing of all revenue and expenditures, as well as the impact of potential cuts, is available under the “agenda” label at the MDUSD Blog at www.mdusd.net.