Pomona Unified advisory group gets budget update

The budgetary forecast for the state and the Pomona Unified School District continues to look bleak which will mean more cuts, members of the district's Superintendent's Budget Advisory Committee learned last week.

 

The committee, which includes parents, principals, students, labor representatives, clergy and other community members, met Nov. 30, and were briefed on the state's fiscal status, which at this point has a $21 billion deficit, and the local impact, the district announced in a statement.

 

"We have to assume that as the state tried to close this new $21 billion hole, public education is in for another round of cuts," Superintendent Richard Martinez said in the statement. "We just have no idea how deep they'll be. We can only work from past experience, and that tells us that for every billion the state cuts, it translates to about a $1 million in cuts for PUSD." 

 

A solution to the situation will probably have to include negotiated reductions to employee compensation, reductions or cuts to programs, and being as efficient as possible such as reducing utility usage, the statement said. 

 

Committee members are expected to come up with recommendations of areas that could be reduced or eliminated at its Dec. 14 meeting. 

 

Those recommendations will be considered along with the results of negotiations with employee labor groups and the numbers from eligible personnel who qualify for the district early retirement program.