Sacramento City Unified School Officials Among Hundreds Gathered for Budget Workshop

contains a big “if” for K-12 schools, who may have to issue layoff notices before they know how much funding they’ll receive from the state, a school consulting and advocacy firm said Friday in Sacramento.

School Services of California, Inc., held a Governor’s Budget Workshop to explain the impacts of Brown’s budget proposal, which provides nearly flat funding to K-12 schools, as long as voters in June choose to extend a 2009 tax hike.

If the tax extension fails or doesn’t make it to the ballot at all, schools would lose $330 per student, presenters said. If it is approved, they would still lose about $19 per student. Brown’s proposal also does not include a cost of living adjustment.

“I think the governor has done a good job of providing a path where K-12 will be protected,” said Ron Bennett, president of School Services of California, Inc. “K-12 has not been protected in past years, but this governor has provided a path where it would be protected – but it’s dependent on the voters stepping up and saying, 'That’s a priority for us too.’ ”

Sacramento City Unified School District officials attended the morning session, which was sold out and filled to capacity, organizers said. The district's board of education will discuss Brown’s budget proposal at a 6:30 p.m. meeting on Thursday.

Donald Terry, the Sacramento City Unified School District board member who represents Rosemont, said a $19-per-student cut would still result in a huge loss for the district, which has about 45,000 students.

He also said that even if voters approve the tax extension, the district won’t be anywhere near where it was a few years ago.

“Where’s the $60 million to catch up to where we were a couple years ago?” Terry said in a later phone interview. “We’re having to do so much more with so much less.”

But despite ongoing budget hardships and uncertainty, Terry said Rosemont schools will still be some of the best in the district.

“The schools that we have in the Rosemont area – even with these budget cuts – we still have the best schools in this area,” Terry said. “With the principals and leaders and educators we have, we’re still going to have blue ribbon schools. It’s the schools that are really struggling that are really going to [suffer].”

Terry also cautioned against taking Brown’s proposal as a sure thing.

“We’re so early in the budget cycle, and to think that everything the governor has proposed will get adopted is, in my opinion, pretty unlikely,” he said.

Bennett, who said the governor’s proposal was “the first shot in the battle, but not the last shot,” said the biggest hurdle would likely be the legislature agreeing to send the tax extension to voters.

“I think the voters [will] pass it if it gets on the June ballot,” he said Friday.

He added that until the outcome of that June election is known and until the legislature approves a budget, school districts will have to prepare for the worst-case scenario, including potential layoffs and negotiating concessions from labor unions.

“You’re going to have to do that and hold your breath for about five or six months until you see what happens with that election and what happens with the budget approval after that,” Bennett told the audience. “This is going to be really difficult for communities to accept, so I want you to truly understand how that works.”

Presenters also urged school officials to prepare by increasing their cash reserves.

“Unless you have a death wish to test your gambling expertise, be conservative,” said Joel Montero, CEO of the California Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team.

While Bennett wasn’t overly critical of the budget proposal, he said the state should do a better job of providing support for schools.

“During the good years we do the worst, and during the bad years we do the worst,” he said. “California’s not failing children in your schools, California’s not failing children in the classrooms in your schools, California’s failing our children right here in Sacramento, and Sacramento needs to take responsibility for that.”