Governor's Revised Budget Could Be Good News for San Lorenzo Schools

Governor Jerry Brown released his revised state budget for 2011-2012 Monday morning, and the numbers included more money for schools than the governor originally laid out in January. But school officials aren’t celebrating yet.

"I'm really not sure what to think of it at this point," said Dr. Lowell Shira, the San Lorenzo Unified School District's assistant superintendent for business services. "We’ll be getting some advice from the county Office of Education as to what revenue assumptions to make." 

Brown projected that the state will take in $6.6 billion more in tax revenue this year and next year than was originally expected, with $1.6 billion of that going to K-12 education and community colleges.

But that money is cash already owed to the schools. The Sacramento Bee reports that the extra cash would go towards reducing short-term IOUs to schools, which the governor's previous budget proposal relied on, in part, as a form of "backdoor borrowing."

District officials are waiting to find out exactly what the new budget proposal might mean for schools at a conference scheduled for next week by School Services of California, Inc., a school consulting and advocacy firm.

But the budget battle in the state capitol is far from over.

Any budget the governor proposes must be approved by the legislature before it can be enacted. Brown has been battling with Republican legislators over extending higher sales, vehicle and income taxes for five more years. On Monday, he floated delaying the income tax proposal while continuing to push for the other two, which he said would net a total increase in education spending of about $3 billion over last year.

“This is a program of taxes with a vote of the people,” Brown said at a press conference, while also proposing to lay off 5500 state workers and eliminate various boards and commissions.

However, without agreement in the legislature, it’s unclear if or when Brown will be able to put the tax extensions before voters.

Faced with that uncertainty, school districts have been contemplating two very different budget scenarios — one if the tax extensions pass, and another far more draconian option if they don’t. 

Earlier in the year, the San Lorenzo Unified School District found itself preparing for a worst-case-scenario $600-per-pupil cut to funding, even as leaders expressed optimism that, with tax extensions, K-12 cuts would be glancing compared with previous years. 

"It’s kind of like disaster preparedness, preparing for some of these scenarios," Shira said. "If the $600 cut occurs, we will have to cut dramatically, quickly."

Twenty-seven certificated teachers and scores of temporary teachers have already been laid off. Class sizes will grow in the coming term, and an undisclosed number of classified staff are to be officially terminated at Tuesday's school board meeting.

In the scenario many are now hoping for, per-pupil dollars would drop by $349, necessitating some cuts and sparing schools others.

But either way, schools are required to balance their books by the end of the term. Whether or not Sacramento has passed a budget,  Shira will present the board with one at the June 24 meeting.