Pomona Unified School District: July 2010 Archives

POMONA - A decision on whether to place a parcel tax measure before voters in the Pomona Unified School District in November has been postponed for at least two weeks.

The item was pulled off Wednesday's Board of Education agenda after a district lawyer determined a public hearing on the item had not been properly noticed, Superintendent Richard Martinez said.

The district had inadvertently failed to publish a notice in a local paper that the hearing would take place, but arrangements were being made to have an announcement published by Monday at the latest and schedule a school board meeting for early August, Martinez said.

The district has until Aug. 6 to submit documentation to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk office to get the proposal on the fall ballot, Martinez said.

During Wednesday's meeting, Associated Pomona Teachers President Tyra Weis told board members the district should include language in the ballot measure that states money raised through a parcel tax would not be used to pay administrator salaries or consultants.

"If they add those two, teachers are more likely to support it," Weis said.

Board President Richard Rodriguez said after the meeting that the changes Associated Pomona Teachers requested are workable.

"I think we can support that," he said.

"We need them. They're members really get out there," Rodriguez said referring to the campaigning efforts of the teachers group.

"We certainly hope our employees unions will back us."

In November 2008, Associated Pomona Teachers supported Measure PC. The voter approved bond measure raised $235 millions for renovations and upgrades to district schools.

The proposed parcel tax would be used to pay for academic programs, along with counseling, library services, health services, athletics, visual and performing arts as well as teachers offering those.

Passing the proposed measure would require the approval of a two-thirds majority of district voters.

It approved, property owners would pay $98 per parcel annually for four years.

A parcel tax is levied on any property that is assessed by the Los Angeles County tax collector.

Multi-family residential properties with two to four units would pay $196 a year, according to district information.

Multi-family residential properties with five or more units would pay $490 a year.

Carla Quezada, a representative of the Pomona chapter of California School Employees Association, told board members that if they places a parcel tax on the ballot "We will review it and then take a position," she said.

District leaders received information from a consultant some time ago on parcel taxes, Rodriguez said.

"He told us many other districts are trying to do this," Rodriguez said.

The consultant, San Francisco-based Dale Scott & Company, conducted a poll that showed voters are willing to support a parcel tax, Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said district voters may be willing to support a parcel tax because they are aware of the cuts the district has had to make and the threats to other valuable programs.

Getting voters to support such a proposal may require some work.

"There could be some difficulties," Rodriguez said. "But I think it's worth a try and being positive about it."

POMONA - A proposal to place a parcel tax on the Nov. 2 ballot will go before the school board tonight (July 14).

If the Pomona Unified board decides to place the matter on the ballot, then it will be up to the district voters in Pomona and part of Diamond Bar to decide if they wish to tax themselves.

The proposal would require the approval of two-thirds of those voting to raise about $4million annually for four years.

"We would basically be using (the funding) across the system," said Superintendent Richard Martinez said.

That would include programs that frequently are threatened when the district has to make cuts, he said.

In addition to academic programs, funds would go to counseling, library, health services, athletics and visual and performing arts.

Several of those programs "are areas we go to first because they are away from the classroom but are much needed areas of support," Martinez said.

If voters were to approve the parcel tax, the $4 million it would generate wouldn't be nearly enough to address all of the district's needs nor would it make up for the funds lost in the past, the current year or the future, officials said.

The school district will probably have to make $11 million in cuts in the 2011-2012 school year budget and another $33 million for the 2012-2013 year budget, Martinez said.

However, the parcel tax money would provide some dollars for valuable programs and the teachers who teach in them, he said.

"We're just looking for a bridge to get us through this period," he said.

If voters approve the measure, property owners would pay $98 per parcel annually for four years.

A parcel tax is levied on any property that is assessed by Los Angeles County tax collector and collected through the property tax bill.

Multi-family residential properties with two to four units would pay $196 a year, according to the proposed measure.

Multi-family residential properties with five or more units would pay $490 annually.

With the help of a consultant, the school district carried out a survey at the end of May and early June that showed voters would be willing to support a parcel tax, Martinez said.

Something that seemed to appeal to those polled is that the money from a parcel tax cannot be taken by the state, said Leslie Barnes, assistant superintendent of business services and chief financial officer.

"They want to help education, and they want to help in their own community," Barnes said.

Should the school board decide to put the measure on the November ballot, then members of the Associated Pomona Teachers board of directors will review the matter and determine whether to support it, said Tyra Weis, president of the organization, also referred as APT.

When the school board placed Measure PS on the November 2008 ballot, APT supported the bond measure approved by voters to raise $235 million to carry out renovations at district schools.

At the time, APT worked in partnership with parents, the district and the grassroots organization OneLA. Together the groups walked door-to-door speaking to voters about the benefits of approving the measure, Weis said.

Such a tax "helps retain qualified teachers," she said. In the case of Pomona Unified's proposal "it's short term - wouldn't go on for 20 or 30 years."

More importantly, such a tax benefits students, Weis said.

In California a number of districts, especially in the Bay Area, have turned to parcel taxes to raise funds for education, said Kris Vosburgh, executive director of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

In the June election, nine school districts, six from the Bay Area, one from the Central Valley and two from Southern California had parcel taxes on the ballot, according to information from CaliforniaCityFinance.com.

All six of the Bay Area district measures were approved. The other three, including Los Angeles Unified School District's, failed.

Local governments, including school districts, must understand "the reason they don't have money is because we don't have money," Vosburgh said.

Vosburgh said the association generally doesn't take a position on such taxes.

"We think that's a decision left to the locals depending upon the circumstances," he said.

What voters should do is study the measure and ask themselves some questions including "is the administration going to provide good value for their taxes? Is it a fair tax?" he asked.

POMONA -- More than 100 Pomona Unified teachers and other certificated employees will soon receive a letter informing them that they will have a job after all for the coming school year.

The district's school board on Wednesday voted to rescind 113 layoff notices issued in May.

The vote was part of a series of steps that led to the board's adoption of a more than $330 million balanced budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year, which started Thursday.

A combination of cost-saving measures -- including one-time revenues, layoffs, cuts and an early retirement incentive program -- made up for a $36 million loss in revenue.

Superintendent Richard Martinez said the early retirement program allowed the board to rescind the notices issued to certificated employees, most of whom were teachers.

"Many chose to retire early to save the jobs of their colleagues," Martinez said.

The early retirement incentive allowed the district to reduce costs by more than $5.8 million, according to Pomona Unified budget documents.

In November, district officials offered a number of eligible certificated employees the opportunity to sign up for an early retirement incentive program.

In March, the retirement incentive program was offered to eligible members of the Pomona chapter of the California School Employees Association. The association includes employees such as clerical and maintenance personnel.

More than 200 employees, including administrators as well as certificated and classified personnel, signed up for the early retirement incentive, said Leslie Barnes, assistant superintendent of business services and chief financial officer

District administrators later this month will present a list of additional certificated employees to board members in hopes of rescinding more notices, Martinez said.

By the time all the adjustments have been made, the number of certificated employees laid off is expected to drop to about 90, he said.

Associated Pomona Teachers President Tyra Weis said Thursday her organization heard notices would be rescinded and had hoped it would be done before the end of the school year.

"I think it brought a lot of relief for teachers," who received layoff notices, she said.

Pomona Unified needed to call back teachers because of the large number of retirements combined with the layoffs would have made it difficult to meet the educational needs of district students, Weis said.

Weis said she and other association members hope teachers will be quickly notified of the good news.

Letters informing the 113 affected certificated personnel were sent out Thursday, said Steve Horowitz, assistant superintendent of personnel services.

In most cases, personnel will remain at the same schools at which they have been working, Horowitz said.

However, some employees may have a different assignment at their school or have their previous responsibilities but at a different campus, he said.

A total of 321 preliminary layoff notices were issued to certificated employees in March, but, by May, the number had been reduced to 209.

On Wednesday night, school board members authorized laying off 35 classified employees.

Another 61 classified employees will remain employed, but will have changes in their assignments or salary, according to a staff report.

In May, school board members authorized district administrators to issue layoff notices to 57 classified employees, which includes instructional aids, clerical staff and custodial personnel.

Board members voted 4-1 to adopt the budget. Board member Andrew Wong cast the lone opposition vote.

The district's $330.7 million budget includes a number of separate funds such as for child development and adult education.

The general fund -- totaling $225.1 million -- made up the largest part of the budget. The general funds pays for employee salaries and benefits as well as needs such as books, supplies and operating services.

Of the $225.1 million, about $90.5 million are restricted funds that can only be used for certain purposes such as special education or kindergarten to third grade class size reduction.

Salary negotiations allowed the district to save about $5.2 million.

Layoffs saved the district about $4 million, according to district budget information.

Board President Richard Rodriguez said Thursday that the district will be OK for now.

"We're going to survive this year and maybe next year but after that" it's hard to predict, Rodriguez said.

Pomona Unified will be watching its expenses, asking administrators to handle multiple duties and leaving positions unfilled, among other steps, he said.

Whether the district will find itself making cuts again in the new fiscal year depends on the decisions of state lawmakers, Martinez said.

"It depends on how the budget is laid out. I hope they take a second, third and fourth look at (education) funding," Martinez said. "But it's too early to tell. My hope is we don't find ourselves in the same position."