City, schools, react to budget cuts

“We were holding our breath in some areas, and we are still holding our breath.”

Aaron Houghton, Assistant Superintendent of for Administrative Services, Silver Valley Unified School District

Though the governor may have signed it, many still have questions about just how the long anticipated state budget will impact them.

Both Barstow Unified and Silver Valley Unified school districts and the city said they are still poring over the state’s budget, figuring out who is getting what money and how to spend it. Gov. Schwarzenegger signed the $145 billion budget Tuesday, ending an 85-day impasse.

“We’re still awaiting further details on the budget and what it contains,” said Aaron Houghton, the assistant superintendent for administrative services at Silver Valley said. “We’re being advised to that we need to be very conservative and watch ... we’re going to be watching this closely.”

Houghton said the balanced budget that Silver Valley passed at the end of last school year was based on a worst-case scenario from Sacramento. He said the district does not expect any cuts to staff or positions because of the budget and will continue to be cautious about the spending.

The budget essentially left spending for education flat, giving schools only a 0.68 percent increase in cost-of-living allowances. That, said Susan Levine, interim superintendent at Barstow Unified School District, will not be enough to cover increased costs the district will face including raises for faculty and staff. Normal cost-of-living increases fall in the 5 percent range.

“We weren’t expecting more than that,” Levine said of the cost-of-living increase. “We were expecting the gloom and doom.”

Levine said the district began preparing for shortfalls in state funding last year when the school board approved more than $1 million in budget cuts. The state also cut funding to the county to support Advancement Via Individual Determination programs at schools. Levine said that despite a loss in county support of the AVID program, Barstow will continue the classes, which help under performing students reach their potential. The elective classes focus on potential first-generation college students and minority students who need extra support in graduating high school and continuing with their education. The classes teach organization and study skills.

The city, too, is waiting to see exactly where money is coming in and where it is going out. Before the budget was signed, city officials feared about $850,000 could be borrowed from Barstow coffers to help the state budget. John Rader, spokesman for the city, said the city knows now it will lose $277,325 from the Redevelopment Fund, some money from the local street and transit fund and suffer 10 percent cuts in booking fee reimbursements. Rader said the city is still looking into the overall impact of the budget on Barstow.

The state budget and schools statewide
$58.1 billion   | Prop. 98 funding, guaranteed funding to California schools
$904,000         | Vetoed from classes teaching organizational and study skills for underperforming students
$16.4 million  | Vetoed from child development programs
$180 million   | Included to help schools in Program Improvement (Barstow to receive portion)
Source: San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4121 or aaupperlee@desertdispatch.com