Sigh of relief for area schools
Voters give districts a bit of breathing room on budgets
School administrators in the San Jose area may be breathing a collective sigh of relief with the passage of Proposition 30, but that doesn’t mean they think their districts are out of the woods. While the proposition doesn’t bring them a pot of gold, it does mean that school finances will be stable for a while.
Three superintendents from San Jose districts — San Jose Unified, Cambrian and Union — welcome Proposition 30’ s passage because it means no further cuts to programs or additional furlough days, and per- pupil state funding remains at current levels .
Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposition, approved by 53.6 percent of voters on Nov. 6, increases taxes on earnings over $ 250,000 for seven years and sales taxes by a quarter- cent for four years to fund schools. These increases will generate an estimated $ 6 billion annually through the 2018- 19 school year.
“I’m grateful that Proposition 30 passed because if it hadn’t, the district would be in such a world of hurt,” said Jackie Horjes, Union District’s superintendent. “Without it we weren’t sure we could balance our budget without decimating our reserves.”
Science buildings
San Jose Unified Superintendent Vince Matthews agreed. “There are very few days when I’m feeling this good,” he said, adding that district residents also passed Measure H, one of eight successful bond measures on the county ballot.
The $ 290 million in bonds will help relieve pressure on the district’s general fund by paying off certificates of participation and allowing the district to purchase solar equipment instead of continuing to lease it.
Matthews said it will free about $ 5 million for the district to increase the number of technical labs and science buildings.
The Cambrian district was particularly worried about Proposition 30 because had it been defeated, the district would have had to add five furlough days this school year. It also probably would have meant larger class sizes.
“We’re currently defi - cit spending, and without the passage we would have had to look at other cuts to make,” Superintendent Debbie Blow said.
Blow is cautious, she said, because without additional funding, the district can’t adopt new programs or bring other programs back.
“I’d love to get primary classes back to 20 students per teacher,” she added. “Without passage, we were looking to increase primary classes to 29 students instead of the current 25 per classroom.”
Union has reserves in place and would have been OK through the end of this school year, Horjes said. But if Proposition 30 hadn’t passed, those reserves would have been depleted, leaving the district unable to balance its budget.
Just waiting
Horjes and her board were waiting for the election results before prioritizing programs. If Brown’s proposition hadn’t passed, they would have had three months to determine what cuts to make.
“We would have been looking at 2012- 13 enrollment and programs we could cut,” Horjes said, expressing gratitude that the district wouldn’t have to decide which programs to cut or what other options were available to make up the projected loss of $ 420 to $ 457 per child.
Like Cambrian, San Jose Unified and its board had already been looking what methods it might have to implement if Proposition 30 failed.
“We didn’t want all furlough days; we wanted to stay as close to 180 days ( of instruction) as possible,” Matthews said.
The district already had scheduled five furlough days this school year.
San Jose Unified was reviewing and evaluating specific programs and prioritizing what might have to go. Among them were nurses and instructional coaches for teachers and principals.
“I’m very excited about the kindness we’ve received from the San Jose community. They gave us support, a pat on the back and a huge lift to say that we’re on the right track,” Matthews said.