For Amador county schools Superintendent Dick Glock, the news could scarcely be worse.
With California's budget spiraling into an abyss and state-issued IOUs potentially being mailed within a week, Glock has been told that layoffs to his staff and other cuts appear unavoidable.
"What the district is faced with right now is the prospect of a 16 percent budget cut between this year and next," Glock said Friday. He went on to explain that the new round of cuts were coming on the heels of the 4-and-half to 5 percent cuts made last year. "We're kind of moving into an existence mode," he observed, meaning schools are approaching a landscape in which they'll offer "a bare bones environment ... with just a teacher, books and a room."
In an e-mail to all of the district's principals and managers Friday, Glock explained that he was being alerted by state officials that the budget crisis was "unprecedented." Glock's message detailed at least 11 positions in the district that looked to be on the chopping block, which included various maintenance workers, secretaries, office clerks and other non-teaching positions. The superintendent and district personnel director, Nina Neville, are working out the personnel side, crunching the numbers on classified staff they'll need to lose.
"We deeply regret the effects the potential action suggested below will have," Glock said in the e-mail. Glock later stressed to the Ledger Dispatch that the School Board would have the ultimate say on the matter after reviewing the situation. Trustees are meeting tomorrow night at the County Administration Center in Jackson to review proposed cuts to classified staff.
The district has until March 15 to notify teachers who would be laid off. Further complicating the problem is that the state still doesn't have a budget and the 16 percent figure the district's been given may not be a final guiding figure by which cuts are made. The official word from the state is that it is in a "financial crisis the scope of which has never been seen," Glock recited.
Meanwhile, a spending package making its way through Congress would achieve a long-sought goal of President Barack Obama and other Democrats. For the first time, it would fully fund No Child Left Behind, former President George W. Bush's education program. School spending accounts for about one-sixth of the $825 billion economic recovery package, which also includes money for health care, energy, highway projects and tax cuts. As with education spending, critics say the measure won't help the economy fast enough and will saddle the government with long-term, budget-wrecking commitments.
The plan would spend about $20 billion quickly to build and fix up classrooms, from kindergarten through college, in an effort to spur job creation and growth. It also would give $39 billion to states to stave off cuts in schools.
But it would also pump an extra $26 billion into two long-term programs, No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The bill includes a $15 billion bonus fund to encourage reforms related to teaching and student tests.
School districts do spend a lot of the No Child Left Behind and special education money on teacher salaries. But they have five years to spend money from the two programs - and a long track record of spending it slowly. There currently is more than $5 billion in unspent federal education money, according to the Education Department.
On Thursday, Glock, County Administrative Officer Terri Daly, District 3 Supervisor Ted Novelli and the president of the Amador County Teacher's Association, Mike Delaney, all went together to speak with Sen. Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks) and Assemblywoman Alyson Huber (D-Lodi). Glock said both Cox and Huber were sympathetic and felt that, in general, education should not be cut.
"The district and the county went to see the state (legislators) because we're trying to be united about facing this," Glock said. "It was productive; but one problem is we're still hearing different things from state officials about when we'll know what the budget is. Some tell us this could be straightened out by next week. Others say we won't know what the budget is until April 1st."
While Glock, Delaney and county officials wait for more news, Glock is preparing to implement the outlined cuts if necessary. For those who think the district has spent its funds carefully, Glock understands it may seem unfair. "We'd like to think we're operating better than the state," he said. "So far, we're much more solvent. But these cuts may be what we have to do to stay that way and continue to operate in a financially prudent manner. Like I said, we're in a dire situation."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
| Scott Thomas Anderson |