Superintendent's Budget Messages
Re: Governor’s May Revise Budget
May 30, 2008
Dear Poway Unified School Community,
As the superintendent of Poway Unified School District, I
first want to say thanks to all of you who recently sent
letters, emails, and made phone calls to your elected
representatives on behalf of public education. Your strength
and clarity of voice made a tremendous difference, and the
Governor’s May Revise budget proposal reflects a higher
level of funding for K-12 education than his January
proposal. While we are thankful and this improves our
financial picture, our district will still need to make
significant cuts in next year’s budget.
Specifically, the May budget proposal provides $5.3 million
more to Poway than was projected in the Governor’s January
proposal. Therefore, rather than having to cut over $16
million from next year’s budget, we will need to cut
approximately $10.7 million. While this is not great news,
it does make a difference in our ability to maintain many of
our fine educational programs supporting your children’s
education.
Throughout the budgeting process, we have utilized the
following four priorities to drive both reductions and
decisions to restore when new funds become available:
• Maintaining a focus on College Readiness for each student
• Giving first call of resources to the classroom
• Maintaining a safe and orderly environment
• Retaining staff and discontinuing or reducing program and
material costs
Based upon these priorities, we have dedicated the
additional $5.3 million to bringing back teachers and
support staff. As a result, program offerings and class
sizes will look very similar to the current school year. Our
kindergarten through 3rd grade class size ratio will remain
at 20 to 1. The goal for our kindergarten program is to move
toward full-day kindergarten at each school site where
classroom space allows. At the 4th and 5th grade levels,
staffing ratios will rise only slightly. The middle school
and high school staffing ratios will also rise slightly.
Districtwide, this represents a reduction of approximately
15 of over 1,000 teachers.
In order to retain as many programs and fine staff as
possible, we have made deep cuts into program and material
expenses. Of the $10.7 million that we still need to cut
next year, we were able to target $8 million in reductions
to programs, materials, and services. The remaining $2.7
million will need to be in the form of other non-classroom
personnel reductions.
Reductions include:
• School site supply and material budgets were reduced by
approximately 30% for the upcoming school year (a reduction
of about $30 per student).
• Fifth grade music teachers, middle school P.E. teachers,
and music assistants were assigned to state grant funds.
• The number of high school assistant coaching positions was
reduced by 10 per school.
• District funding for athletic transportation has been
eliminated. We will be relying on voluntary donations from
parents in order to transport our athletes.
• Regular education home-to-school transportation has been
reduced by $1.2 million. We are restricting regular
education home-to-school transportation services to bus
routes that generate a minimum of 50 riders in order to
cover our operating costs. Only about 6,000 regular
education students of our 33,000 students currently utilize
transportation services. We anticipate these changes will
decrease the number of riders to approximately 4,500 and
reduce the number of bus routes by approximately one third.
All special education transportation will be continued,
based upon state and federal laws. More details will be
mailed from our Transportation Department to families
currently receiving regular home-to-school transportation.
As a result of these reductions, we are hoping our parents
and community will once again give time, energy, and
financial support to help maintain Poway’s excellent
educational programs. I’m confident that, as we work
together through our school site foundations and PTA, we
will be able to continue to provide a first-rate educational
experience for our students.
I also encourage you to continue contacting our legislators
to ensure they pass a final state budget that is at least as
good for public education as the Governor’s latest proposal.
And, most importantly, we need to push our legislators and
Governor to fix a budgeting system for public education that
does not work. Ultimately, schools need stable and adequate
funding. Our state needs to invest in our youth to prepare
them for their future and to ensure the long-term economic
viability of California. Your continued support and
involvement is even more important during this coming year.
For more details on the budget, please go to
www.powayusd.com and click on “PUSD Budget Updates,” located
above the Hot Topics menu.
Thank you again for your continued understanding and
support.
Sincerely,
Don Phillips
Superintendent
May 15, 2008
Dear Poway Unified School Community,
Thank you for your collective efforts to contact legislators and
the Governor on behalf of public education funding. We have
obviously made a difference in Sacramento.
The Governor is proposing to fully fund the Proposition 98
commitment to public education, which has been significantly
reduced by the loss of state revenue during these difficult
economic times. Full Proposition 98 funding would represent
several billion dollars more to California education than what
the Governor’s budget contained in January. He is also calling
for a budget stabilization package that would be better for
education long-term than his original proposal. Unfortunately,
the majority of what he is proposing is based on changes to the
state lottery system. This would require approval by California
voters and may also have implications for ongoing lottery
revenue. The earliest this issue could be placed on the ballot
would be November 2008 and, if it does not pass, he is proposing
an additional one percent temporary sales tax to generate the
revenue to build a “rainy day” fund.
The bottom line is that news is clearly better than January.
What is not clear are the details of the proposal and the
implications of having the sale of the lottery at the center of
his proposal. We will be seeking clarification as to what we can
definitely count on for budgeting purposes over the next week or
two.
Therefore, I am cautiously optimistic that Poway Unified will
not need to make the planned $16.275 million in reductions for
next year. The reduction target would be significantly less
given the Governor’s proposal, but would still likely represent
at least $8 million in budget cuts. If this comes to pass, our
financial picture would be much improved, but the cuts still go
too deep. Our legislators should be increasing their financial
commitment to our students in order to prepare them to be
productive and contributing members of our great state and
country. We will need to continue to push Sacramento for stable
and adequate funding and greater local flexibility, to place
California back on the top tier of states in terms of school
funding.
We will be taking budget and staffing recommendations to the May
27 Board of Education meeting. We will keep you posted as we
learn more.
Sincerely,
Don Phillips
March 10, 2008
Dear Poway Unified School Community,
Governor Schwarzenegger’s January budget proposal requires dramatic funding reductions for K-12 education. For a state that already ranks low in per-pupil spending, the challenges will become even greater. In a recently published Education Week report, California ranked 46th in per-pupil spending, a full $1,892 per student below the national average, adjusted for regional cost of living. California receives $5,137 less per pupil than New York and $5,171 less than New Jersey. In addition, Poway is considered a “low wealth district,” which means it receives even less than the California average. If we were funded at the national average, our district would receive approximately $66 million in additional revenue annually.
The Governor’s budget proposal for 2008-09 sets out a $14.4 billion shortfall for the entire state. The Governor then declared a state of fiscal emergency, which will result in $507 million in funding reversions from K-12 education this year. However, I am most deeply disappointed in the Governor’s proposal for the 2008-09 school year, which calls for a reduction of $4.4 billion to K-12 education. For Poway Unified, the proposal will translate into significantly fewer state dollars than received in the current school year. The budget problem is magnified by regular ongoing increases to costs, including health and welfare, step and column, energy, and special education funding requirements, to name just a few.
Based upon the Governor’s January proposed budget and these unavoidable increased costs, we anticipate needing to make approximately $15.5 million in budget reductions for the 2008-09 school year, from a total budget of $260 million.
This is a staggering number and represents one of the largest budget cuts since the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978. It is further compounded by the major cuts that occurred during the 2001-02, 2002-03, and 2003-04 school years due to state budget reductions. We have not recovered full funding from the earlier state cuts to offset these new reductions. In effect, this is the second major blow to education funding in seven years, and it cuts deeper than the reductions from 2001 to 2004.
Next Steps at the State Level
In May, the Governor will present an updated budget proposal referred to as the “May Revise.” Based upon California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office report on the economic trend line, the budget picture will likely be even bleaker in May. Therefore, as we are developing budgets and planning for the next school year, we cannot count on the financial picture improving.
We are deeply concerned about this scenario, and as a district will pursue every avenue at the state level to increase revenue and mitigate the impact by making K-12 education funding a higher priority. The Governor’s proposed reductions would deeply undermine our efforts to provide the very best possible education for our students and increase achievement for all.
Next Steps at the District Level
By California Education Code statute, we are required to prepare a balanced budget for the upcoming year and the two following school years. Given that 86% of our budget is invested in people, these reductions will take a deep toll on individual lives and impact our school system across all levels of the district. Due to the state budget shortfall, we will need to reduce teachers (increasing class sizes), management and classified positions (reducing support services), and the overall operations budget of the district.
By California Education Code, we must notify any probationary or permanent certificated employee by March 15 if they may not have a position for the following school year. Certificated employees who receive this notice may or may not be back with us in the fall, depending upon the state budget picture, retirements, leave of absence requests, and other factors.
For classified employees, the California Education Code requires a 45-day notification prior to a layoff or reduction. This process is closely governed by the seniority system. Later this year, the district will send notices to classified employees in areas that may be reduced or eliminated. Again, as the budget picture crystallizes and as retirements and leaves become known, we will hopefully be able to rehire laid-off or reduced staff.
We are committed to retaining as many of our hard-working and dedicated staff members as possible. Adjustments will likely need to be made in our staffing and programs well into August and September depending upon when the state adopts the final 2008-2009 budget.
One program that will not be affected by the state budget cuts is our Building for Success program. Thanks to the recent passage of Proposition C, construction will continue at schools throughout the district. In addition, new schools are being built in the newer developments in our district with funds generated through Mello-Roos fees. The money for these capital projects is completely separate from the general fund budget. The general fund budget pays for teachers, books and supplies, and instructional programs. Facilities funds cannot be spent for general fund expenditures.
On a personal note, it deeply saddens me to see the fabric of this special place for students and staff pulled apart. These are going to be very difficult times with many hard choices. Through it all, we need to be supportive and caring of one another and continue to work together to help our students succeed.
I’m confident that if any group of people can weather the tsunami brought on by the state budget crisis, it is our school district.
Sincerely,
Don Phillips
Superintendent
