San Carlos educators examine budget fixes

The amendments come as part of an effort to address a deficit borne primarily by a loss of 100 students from projected enrollment levels last year, which cuts into the district’s daily attendance payment from the state.

While no decision was made at the meeting, and officials plan to reconvene to discuss the matter further later this month, most trustees supported the budget revisions proposed by Superintendent Michelle Harmeier.

“I generally actually really liked how this was trimming around all the programs,” said Trustee Eirene Chen, regarding the proposal to keep most of the proposed spending reductions away from the classroom.

Board President Michelle Nayfack shared a similar sentiment.

“We have to make reductions and that is a difficult position to be in, and these feel OK,” she said, according to video of the meeting. “Some more than others. But there’s nothing on here I felt that if we had to do it, I wouldn’t pull the trigger.”

She added she felt the proposed budget fixes were largely appropriate in their ability to address the deficit while staying clear of transformative changes which would harm the programs or cut staff which more directly affect students.

Among the budget balancing measures proposed included cutting spending on physical education and music programs, reducing the amount of teachers, administrators, counselors and other support personnel and increasing class sizes by a couple students in the higher grades.

Officials are also looking to generate more revenue by adding a couple of preschool classes, increasing facility rental rates as well as potentially moving the district office and renting the vacated property.

A few of the measures were more popular among officials than others, as some trustees shared concerns over the proposal to increase class sizes for fear of harming certain learning environments.

Trustee Neil Layton though suggested he was comfortable with increasing the class sizes, in an effort to offer district officials additional flexibility with staffing should ratios of students to teachers near their limits. He also noted that increasing class sizes will not mandate that each classroom meet its capacity.

Any budget reductions tied to staffing are proposed to be achieved through natural attrition, said Harmeier and any other cuts which would lead to layoffs would likely need to be collectively bargained. Officials are optimistic though they can achieve a balanced budget in the next couple years without needing to issue pink slips.

The source of the district’s budget hardship comes from anticipated enrollment dropping by 100 students this year, with an expectation that the student population may shrink by another 50 students next year, said Harmeier.

The district is financed primarily by state allocations according to average daily attendance, since insufficient property tax revenue is generated to fund the district locally.

Harmeier has said the declining enrollment is likely linked to the high cost of living locally, as families are pulling their students out of school and moving somewhere more affordable.

The loss of revenue compelled officials to examine budget adjustments, with an eye on approving a strategy for filling the financial hole by the end of the month, in alignment with mandates from the county Office of Education.

For her part, Harmeier said she received the feedback she needed to return with a fully formed recommendation which is ready for approval at the final board meeting of the month.

Chen, meanwhile, detailed the difficulty of the decision before officials.

“We need to find the $2.4 million in cuts to get to be sustainable, but none of this is easy or fun to think about,” she said.

austin@smdailyjournal.com

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