Palos Verdes Peninsula School District readies for potential budget cuts

The Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District inked agreements with its teachers and classified employees that mark a sign of the times for a district struggling to prepare for the possibility of drastic budget cuts from the state.

Representatives of the Palos Verdes Faculty Association agreed to a school year calendar that includes 176 days of instruction, the same as last year, and one additional staff development day for a complete school year of 180 days.

The district began shaving the school year calendar four years ago when it operated under a 185 day schedule. If the proposed statewide tax initiative passes in November, the district could possibly add work days back, based on a formula agreed to in a Memo of Understanding with the teachers union.

But the district must open its doors in September without knowing for sure how the budget will shape out, said PVPUSD Human Resource Director Bill Franchini.

“The question is always whether we open the year as if the cuts have taken place or wait to see what happens,” Franchini said.

If the tax initiative does not pass, the school district would receive $5.5 million less for the 2012-13 school year. The state would likely then give the district authority to reduce class instructional days to 165 days per year, an all-time low for public education in the state.

“The reality is if you sit down at a table with a bargaining group of teachers and say you want to cut the school year by three weeks, what ends up happening is you have to make cuts in other areas to make up for it,” Franchini said.

The district handed out lay-off notices in May to 45 temporary teachers. Franchini said they may be able to hire some of those teachers back in the spring, depending on class sizes.

Kathy Santarosa, a grade school teacher that represents the 600 Peninsula teachers at South Bay United Teachers union told Easy Reader earlier this year that teachers really want the instructional days back.

“We really feel it hurts our kids,” she said.

As for the 600 classified employees, the district was able to save roughly half of the 40 custodian, library and teacher assistant positions slated for lay-offs earlier this year, Franchini said.

Even if the sales tax passes, Franchini said it still does not generate increased revenue.

“It will just keep us from slipping into the abyss,” he said.

Andrea Sala, executive director of the Palos Verdes Education Foundation, said without the tax increase, the foundation may have to ask parents to contribute more. Last year, the foundation raised $2.8 million for the district, more than half of which went toward teacher salaries.

This year, the foundation increased its goal to $3 million. Part of that funding will go toward increasing technology in the classroom and the ability of teachers to utilize that technology.

“If tax initiatives don’t pass, I think we’re really going to have to go out to our community and educate them about what’s happening because the cuts coming down the pike could be huge,” Sala said.

Palos Verdes parents are currently asked to contribute $500 per year. Compared to San Marino, which has a similar demographic, that’s relatively low. Parents there are asked to contribute $2,000. And in Manhattan Beach, the foundation asks for $1,200 per student. Only about half of the roughly 7,500 parents of school-age children in Palos Verdes contribute to the foundation with about 600 families giving more than $1,500 each, Sala said.

“We are constantly trying to educate the community about state funding and schools,” Sala said. “There are people who say they’ve already given, but eventually it comes back around again.”

No matter how much less the district receives, teachers seem to work even harder, Sala noted. As part of an annual grant program, teachers ask the foundation for common items such books and other supplies, things teachers might have considered basic materials in the past.

“It’s interesting how much harder teachers work with so much less,” Sala said. ER

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