Schools stand to lose $1.5 million

Deirdre Newman

School officials are battening down the hatches in preparation for

the impending loss the district expects to suffer at the hands of the

state budget axes.

Paul Reed, assistant superintendent for the Newport-Mesa Unified

School District, said he anticipates the district’s funding will be

slashed by about $1.5 million if the state adopts Gov. Gray Davis’

proposal for the 2003-04 budget, drawn up in response to an expected

$34-billion deficit.

Despite the potential for the school district’s million dollar

shortfall, Reed stressed that the proposal is preliminary.

“There’s very little congruence of what the governor proposes in

January and what the [state] Legislature passes in the summer,” Reed

said.

Davis recommended a $122.2-million reduction in required programs

for the entire state.

To soften the blow of these cuts, Davis suggested consolidating

funding for the 64 remaining programs and removing all of the strings

attached to the funding to afford districts more flexibility. This

means the burden will be on local school boards to decide which

programs to save and which to abandon.

Reed mentioned two other ways that district coffers could be

adversely affected by Davis’ proposal. Both would diminish the

district’s advantage of being a basic-aid district, which means it

receives more in property taxes than the amount of funding per child

that the state guarantees.

The first is the recommendation to eliminate extra funding given

to basic-aid districts from the state. The proposal jeopardizes the

$120 more per student the district receives because of its basic-aid

status.

Reed said this scenario raises significant legal questions.

Davis also suggested the state take 80% of the excess property tax

basic aid that districts collect over their guaranteed amounts.

Reed said this approach is tantamount to poaching.

“In concept, [Davis is saying], ‘Although you can totally afford

to support your school district, we’re going to take it away and give

it to prisons and Medi-Cal,’” Reed said.

The district will keep a close watch on the progress of Davis’

proposal until the legislature adopts the final draft this summer,

Reed said.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at [email protected].