Superintendent: $3.8 million in cuts ahead

<p>The Petaluma City Schools District is facing the prospect of fewer school days, an increase in class sizes and teacher layoffs even if a proposed tax measure is approved by voters in November. </p><p>Petaluma School District Superintendent Steve Bolman has asked the district budget committee to prepare for $3.8 million in cuts from the district's already bare-bones budget of $66.5 million. He said the cuts will be necessary in the 2012-2013 school year even if one of several proposed state revenue-increasing tax measures is approved by voters in the fall.</p><p>“The vote would come almost halfway through our school year,” Schafer points out. “We have to make our decisions based on our expectations now, so we don't have to make cuts mid-year.”</p><p>While Petaluma school officials deal with more cuts in state funds, estimated to be $4.8 billion statewide, the local district's financial situation is made more dire because of several years of declining enrollment. Fewer students translates into a reduction in the amount the state allots per pupil per day. “It's a double whammy,” said School Board President Mary Schafer.</p><p> She said the district expects enrollment to bottom out next school year and begin to increase in future years. </p><p>The current district enrollment is around 7,120, with 2,120 attending elementary school and 4,900 in high school. “Our K-sixth-grade enrollment has been growing,” points out Bolman. “Those students are just now getting into the high school district.”</p><p>According to Schafer, Petaluma has been able to cushion some of the impact of the declining enrollment and state cuts because Bolman, in his position as deputy superintendent of business and administration before becoming interim superintendent last July and permanent superintendent last month, was able to help the district build up a sizable reserve. </p><p>That reserve, now about $9 million, is fast dwindling and if passage of a statewide tax-increase measure doesn't occur, the Petaluma School District could be looking at a deficit of as much as $7.8 million in the 2013-2014 school year, according to Bolman. </p><p>Bolman said the cuts for next school year will have to come primarily from personnel in one form or another. </p><p>“We're really talking about people,” the superintendent said. “Eighty to 85 percent of our expenditures are in personnel.”</p><p>“Our teachers and classified staff have already taken pay cuts,” Schafer points out.</p><p>Negotiations between the school district and unions representing both certificated and classified work will begin after both present their initial proposals at the Feb. 28 meeting of the school board. After those initial public disclosures, the negotiations move behind closed doors. </p><p>The district added three school days for the current school year, two more instructional days and an additional staff development day for teachers. Students this year attend school 177 days a year. “We are looking at going back down to 175 days a year,” Bolman says.</p><p>“Cutting days has to be one of our considerations,” says Schafer. “That is the largest chunk of savings that can be found.”</p><p>The board president pointed out that the state is proposing allowing school years as small as 160 days per year as compared to the former standard of 180. “Even 180 is not enough to keep us competitive with the rest of the world,” Schafer said.</p><p>Class sizes will almost surely increase, although by how much is yet to be determined.</p><p>Also possible are staff reductions. Schafer points out that before the state passes its budget in June, the school district must notify teachers about pending layoffs. </p><p>“We need to determine by March 15 if we need to notify teachers of potential layoffs,” she says. “May 15 is when the layoffs become real.” </p><p>Bolman says the district is doing its best to keep from cutting school programs. “When you cut a program, you can't get it back,” he explains. </p><p>“This is not fun,” says Schafer. “We're trying to find the best path that reduces the impact on our kids.”</p><p>Despite the tough financial times, Petaluma City Schools are in better shape than many districts in the state,” Bolman says.</p><p>“It is because of a collaborative effort of the school board, the district management, the teachers, the classified union and the community all working for the best interests of the students,” he says. </p><p>“It doesn't happen that way in every community, but we have it here.”</p><p>(Contact John Jackson at johnie.jackson@argus courier.com)</p>