Sieu Says Newest Round of Budget Cuts Will Not Impact Current ABC School Year

In response to the sweeping $1 billion in state budget cuts announced by Gov. Jerry Brown earlier this week, deputy superintendent Dr. Mary Sieu issued a pubic letter reassuring the community that the district's prudent planning will help cushion the blow of these cuts, causing minimal impact on the current school year. 

The newest round of budget cuts, which will take effect on or after Jan. 1, includes a $248 million dollar cut in the state's school transportation budget, eliminating free school-bus service -- something that Brown says schools will now have to pay out of their own reserves. The cuts will also impact higher education spending along with state social service programs and funding for public libraries.

"It's not the way we'd like to run California, but we have to live within our means," the governor said during his announcement. 

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Sieu's letter to the community is posted below:

Letter to the ABC Community:

As you may have heard, the Governor recently announced that nearly $1 billion in new state budget cuts will soon take effect. As a result of our District’s prudent fiscal planning and sacrifices made by all our employees this year, the impact of these budget reductions to ABC Unified School District for the 2011-12 schoolyear will be minimal.

The total midyear budget reduction for ABC Unified School District is $862,000. This includes a reduction in Transportation of $606,000; Revenue Limit of $220,000 and Child Care of $36,000. The District currently has a sufficient fund balance to offset the midyear budget reductions by the State due to our proactive planning.

As a result:

• There will be no change in the 2011-2012 school year.
• There will be no reduction in transportation services to the students and staff.
• There will be no additional furlough days for the staff in 2011-2012.
• There will be no reductions in child care services or staff.

Clearly, these midyear cuts are not minor to the overall impact to education. The Governor has warned of additional cuts in the future. We will continue to keep the District and community updated of how we are meeting these fiscal challenges.