SVUSD vows to cut $2M by Jan. 16

Need to cut at least $2M from the budget|

The Sonoma Valley Unified School District board has to make an estimated $2 million to $3 million in cuts to next year’s budget at its Jan. 16 meeting.

But because of the time crunch, the public won’t get an opportunity to see and comment on the proposed cuts much before a special board meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 10. The district will release the proposed cuts “as soon as we have them developed,” said district Superintendent Chuck Young.

Former Dunbar principal Melanie Blake wasn’t enthralled. “The timeline doesn’t sound like community outreach,” she told the board during public comment at Tuesday night’s meeting. “It sounds like community information.”

Young said the district has every expectation of making the list public in early January – in advance of the Jan. 10 meeting.

“We’re targeting $2 million in continuing costs,” Young said Thursday. “We might have to cut another $1 million the following year.”

A lot depends on the school’s income stream from the state. “We can’t control our income,” Young said. “But we can impact our expenses by cutting – although some things cannot legally be cut.”

Among the ways the district is looking to make cuts is by incentives for employees to retire early, looking at staffing and looking at attendance.

Loyal Carlon, the district Human Resources director, said the district is considering offering $20,000 for employees that are at least 58 years old and have been district employee for at least 10 years.

While some teachers were concerned that class sizes would jump dramatically, district officials tried to assure them that it didn’t necessarily mean maxing out class sizes. Karen Strong, the associate superintendent of Instructional Services, pointed out that there was one class that only has four students.

Putting more students in seats would also help the district. Right now the district’s daily attendance is about 93 percent, but it could gain $150,000 for every percentage point it can add.

The district also has hired Bruce Abbot as assistant superintendent of Business Services. The district hasn’t had a chief business officer for the past five months.

“I’m more optimistic now,” said newly elected board President Britta Johnson. “I’m confident we have the people here to do the job. And I trust the reductions will be thoughtful.”

But she added that it’s impossible to keep any cuts away from the classroom.

The district already has a hiring freeze and a spending freeze as a result of a letter it received from the Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE) back at the end of September warning that because the district has been deficit spending for the past couple of years, the finances could go off the track.

Steven Herrington, the county superintendent of schools, was at Tuesday night’s meeting to discuss the warning letter.

He told the board that there were areas of concern.

“We want to leave the district as independent as possible,” he said.

He explained that because the Richmond School District had gotten itself into a financial mess in the early 1990s, the legislature passed AB1200 which created a crisis management assistance team for districts that were in danger of going off the financial rail.

“We’re here to help you,” Herrington said. “You have to make some tough calls. But you can turn this around in about 12 months.”

Young told the board the district knew about the financial woes even before the SCOE letter arrived. A financial committee comprised of Young, Porter, Strong, Carlon, Andrea Deeley, Anne Ching, Helen Marsh and Graham Smith is looking at the potential budget cuts.

“By the next meeting, we will have a financial plan,” Young told the board.

Email Bill at bill.hoban@sonomanews.com.

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