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Board Briefs: June 23, 2009

The Board of Education on Tuesday night approved a 2009-10 budget that takes advantage of federal stimulus money to avoid increasing class sizes, laying off teachers, eliminating transportation and reducing after-school activities -- the kinds of cuts that otherwise would be forced upon the District because of the state’s ongoing financial crisis.
 
However, multi-year projections for 2010-11 and 2011-12, which also were approved Tuesday night, include all of the above and more:
 
  •  The elimination of class-size reduction programs in kindergarten through third grade and at ninth grade, which would result in the loss of more than 70 teaching positions;
  •  The elimination of home-to-school transportation for kindergarten through eighth-grade students (high school transportation was eliminated this year);
  •  The elimination of District stipends for after-school activities, including all athletic teams as well as James Logan High School’s nationally known marching band, color guard and forensics team;
  • The closure of another school (Cabello Elementary School was closed at the end of the 2006-07 school year, and Barnard-White Middle School was closed at the end of 2007-08, as part of the District’s efforts to deal with the financial realities of declining enrollment). 
The budget for 2009-10 is about $104 million, down about $7 million from just two years ago. It incorporates a nearly $7 million reduction in state revenue-limit money compared to the original 2008-09 budget, as well as a $2.2 million increase in the District’s share of medical and dental premiums.
 
With Union City’s City Council also voting on a budget Tuesday night -- a budget that would eliminate its support for Schools Resource Officers (police officers assigned to Logan and Conley-Caraballo High) -- the District budget also eliminates SRO support. The Union City Police Department has applied for a grant that could enable the City and District to reinstate all or part of the SRO program, which currently costs approximately $525,000, but a decision on the grant is not expected until fall.
 
The District budget retains crossing guards at the elementary and middle schools, despite the fact that the City no longer will fund part of the program.
 
The District will receive at least $8 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, including $1.2 million being spent this year. Chief Business Officer Ted Hood reminded the Board that the federal stimulus funds are one-time dollars, which means more and bigger cuts will be needed in 2010-11 and 2010-12, unless the situation changes in Sacramento or the District is able to find a supplemental revenue source, such as a parcel tax.
 
Polling results, however, indicate that although an overwhelming majority of New Haven voters say the District is doing an excellent or good job, it is unlikely that the necessary two-thirds majority would support a parcel tax.
 
Also on Tuesday night, the Board:
 
  • Welcomed new Logan Principal Amy McNamara.
  • Approved charging 30 cents per breakfast for students whose families qualify for the reduced-meal program. Previously, these students were not charged for breakfast. Students whose families qualify for free meals are not affected.
  • Approved the sale of the fourth and final series of Measure A bonds, approved by New Haven voters in 2003, for $25 million. The Board also approved restructuring up to $60 million in previously sold bonds to take best advantage of current market conditions.
  • Approved donations of $500 to the District from the Union City Youth Soccer League and $600 to Pioneer Elementary School from Jo Chiu-Fang Lin and Xiangdong Li.