CVUSD faces huge shortfall
Author: Neil Nisperos , Staff Writer
CHINO - Chino Valley Unified may face a nightmarish $66.5 million deficit in three years, according to a possible scenario presented to school board members at a recent budget meeting.
Sandra Chen, assistant superintendent of business services, said the shortfall may occur, given the possibility of voters not extending taxes that the governor is counting on to help fund education and other state expenditures.
Sandra Chen, assistant superintendent of business services, said the shortfall may occur, given the possibility of voters not extending taxes that the governor is counting on to help fund education and other state expenditures.
"If it doesn't happen, we may be looking at an $825 cut per average daily attendance (ADA) for this district and what that means for us is a $24 million loss each year."
Chen said the revenue loss, including recent budget reductions, could mean a $30 million shortfall in the 2012-13 school year, becoming a $66.5 million shortfall the year after that.
Currently, the district is making budget calculations and projects with the San Bernardino County Office of Education's assumption of a $349 cut per ADA, which would have meant a $30 million deficit at the end of the 2012-13 school year. With recent cuts made, the district's deficit projection for the 2012-13 school year was reduced to a projection of about $2.3 million.
Board member Fred Youngblood asked Chen where she obtained information regarding the ADA cut. Chen said the figure comes from the state's Legislative Analyst's Office and the School Services of California, a company which provides business information to school districts and higher education institutions.
Ron Bennett, president and CEO of School Services of California, said if the Legislature wanted to suspend Proposition 98, which provides K-14 schools with a guaranteed funding source, they could do so with a two-thirds vote, with "no limit to how much they could take."
"Some legislators have begun to speculate that we may be out of balance by $12 billion, with $5 billion (going toward that shortfall) from education," Bennett said. "The $5 billion would come from the $825 (loss per ADA). There's been no proposal by the governor or the Legislature to suspend Proposition 98 and take $5 billion, but there's been a lot of discussion and rhetoric that surrounds it because the state does not have its budget balanced."
The district will meet to study its budget on May 10 and approve its third interim financial report on May 19. The board, by law, is required to adopt its three-year budget by June 30.
Chen said the revenue loss, including recent budget reductions, could mean a $30 million shortfall in the 2012-13 school year, becoming a $66.5 million shortfall the year after that.
Currently, the district is making budget calculations and projects with the San Bernardino County Office of Education's assumption of a $349 cut per ADA, which would have meant a $30 million deficit at the end of the 2012-13 school year. With recent cuts made, the district's deficit projection for the 2012-13 school year was reduced to a projection of about $2.3 million.
Board member Fred Youngblood asked Chen where she obtained information regarding the ADA cut. Chen said the figure comes from the state's Legislative Analyst's Office and the School Services of California, a company which provides business information to school districts and higher education institutions.
Ron Bennett, president and CEO of School Services of California, said if the Legislature wanted to suspend Proposition 98, which provides K-14 schools with a guaranteed funding source, they could do so with a two-thirds vote, with "no limit to how much they could take."
"Some legislators have begun to speculate that we may be out of balance by $12 billion, with $5 billion (going toward that shortfall) from education," Bennett said. "The $5 billion would come from the $825 (loss per ADA). There's been no proposal by the governor or the Legislature to suspend Proposition 98 and take $5 billion, but there's been a lot of discussion and rhetoric that surrounds it because the state does not have its budget balanced."
The district will meet to study its budget on May 10 and approve its third interim financial report on May 19. The board, by law, is required to adopt its three-year budget by June 30.
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