Budget Forum Draws Concern at Rosemont High School

A mixed crowd came to get more information about the school district budget cuts being made at the Budget Community Forum held at Tuesday evening.

School board trustee Donald Terry, who represents Rosemont, opened the meeting by saying the school district is looking at a deficit of at least $9 million dollars. He said a balanced budget must be submitted to the state by March 15 or the county will take over the district's finances.

Terry said the board wants to know what is most important to the parents and community and they want ideas.

Patty Hagemeyer, a representative of the school district, briefly explained the and discussed a list of items they are looking to cut such as sports, drama and music and an increase in class sizes. She said she is working on attendance strategies because this is an area where they can increase revenue.

Hagemeyer said the proposed cuts will likely happen if the voters do not renew a 2009 tax increase in a special election this June. She said the budget has to be in by March 15 and asked those in attendance to be prepared to see the proposed cuts included in the budget.

Superintendent Jonathan Raymond said he wished the news could be better. He said the schools must plan for the worst. He said the board has to plan around the tax extension not being passed.

“I don’t know where the public has been,” Raymond said. “I haven’t heard much from the public on this problem.”

Raymond encouraged everyone to get involved and said trying to find ways to make more cuts has become more difficult. He said he overheard a recent board member explain how he was asked to find the low-hanging fruit and his response was there are no trees left.

Raymond said he sees the cost of education in California as a way to generate revenue for the state.

“I think the fastest way to see the economy turn around is through education,” Raymond said. “My kids will never see the investment in education they should see.”

Many of the parents attending announced they appreciated Raymond’s candor and personally thanked him for it.

Some of the parents were concerned about schools closing and whether schools that need repairs would be fixed. Raymond said needed repairs would be made to existing schools. He said a committee has been assigned to work on school closures.

To generate more revenue, Raymond said the board is looking at online programs for summer school, having a leadership program for principals, piloting a program for retaining teachers, manufacturing bio fuel for buses and staff cars and selling off surplus books. He said he will ask all department heads and principals to give him ideas on how to generate revenue.

Parent Shane Sawyer asked, “what happens to the kids if we stop teaching them–which is what these cuts will do–and just have them take tests?”

“I also think we need parent engagement and more parent participation,” Sawyer said.  “If a child goes to school and comes home to a parent that doesn’t care about education, that child isn’t going to learn anything.”

Della Dyck said the presentation was thorough.

“I have heard it before,” Dyck said. “I have six children and the youngest one is finishing high school. I think Raymond is handling the situation well.”

The school board is encouraging parents to go online and take a budget priorities survey, which can be found at www.scusd.edu.