Scotts Valley Unified School District trustees has reached out to the community for solutions to a projected two-year, $2 million deficit as discussion about a potential parcel tax to bridge the funding gap begins to heat up.
“The stage, I think, has been set over a number of years,” school board president Michael Shulman said. “It’s time for us to face up and make some tough decisions.”
Scotts Valley Unified School District, according to Chief Business Official Karen Jelcick, has $3.3 million in reserves. However, after permanently cutting $1 million last year to meet budget needs, the district will lose another $950,000 from the state that will impact its $16.4 million budget.
“This is not new,” Jelcick said. “This is about a five-year problem that keeps getting pushed into the future.”
If no changes are made and revenue from the state does not pick up, Jelcick explained in a presentation to the board, the district will deplete its reserves and have a negative balance of $1.67 million by the end of 2013.
Additional cuts are on the horizon if a parcel tax or fundraising efforts can’t make up for the deficit.
Already, teacher-to-student ratios are maximized at the schools, Jelcick said, while health insurance premiums for district employees are increasing dramatically and federal academic proficiency standards continue to rise.
Jelcick said that to resolve the $950,000 deficit, the district could eliminate library services, cut music from grades six through 12, ax the Scotts Valley High career center, cut counselors, lay off custodians, reduce the number of clerical staff members at the elementary schools and cut district accounting department staff.
Other changes could include sending the middle school back to its original schedule by dropping the academy program, shortening the non-instructional year by five days and to cutting the school year from 180 to 175 days. The last three cuts would have to be negotiated with the teachers union.
A community day scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 18, during which more than 70 local businesses and a host of garage sale hosts will donate some of their proceeds to the Scotts Valley Educational Foundation, is one fundraiser that will help the deficit.
Foundation president Charlotte Multer reported on the ongoing Dollar-a-Day fundraiser that asks every school family to donate a dollar for each day of the year. So far, $46,000 has been raised, but only 100 people in the district have given money, even though there are 2,600 students in the district.
Trustees Shulman, Allison Niday, Sue Roth and Jondi Gumz spoke in favor of presenting an annual parcel tax to voters. Trustee Larry Beaman did not, noting that at this time, there would be significant opposition to a parcel tax, even if it included an exemption for seniors.
A committee led by Shulman presented the results of a survey e-mailed to district parents. Of more than 485 voters, 79.4 percent said they would vote “yes” on a five-year $150 annual parcel tax with a senior exemption. It was noted, however, that the results included only district parents, not the overall community of roughly 12,000 voters.
School board candidates John Abel and Art Bubb attended the meeting and were noncommittal about a parcel tax. Abel suggested that the district host a community meeting to ask residents whether they have ideas aside from a tax to help the school’s budget.
Gumz volunteered to head the meeting, which will likely take place at the Scotts Valley Community Center in the next few months.
