The Manhattan Beach Unified District School Board adopted its $52.3-million budget last month, with a projected $7.5 million in reserves at the end of the year, a number that’s projected to dwindle as the district maps out a three-year forecast.
“We’re spending more than were taking in, we’re deficit spending,” said Deputy Superintendent Rick Bagley. “That goes straight to the reserves and depletes it.”
Uncertainties in Sacramento, however, have left the district with the challenge of building a budget that accommodates increasing costs with unknown revenues.
“We’re kind of in the crystal ball business here, which is not always the clearest business,” said Superintendent Mike Matthews, adding that the budget is built around projections that tax measures on the November ballot pass.
If November tax initiatives fail, the district expects to lose $440 out of $5,244 per student, or $2.8 million total, each year, Bagley said. “I don’t know how we’d make that up, that’s a steep hill to climb,” Bagley said.
At that point, the district would have to consider implementing furlough days and layoffs, Matthews said.
The district is currently in labor negotiations with teachers, who are asking for a salary increase.
According to the budget, the district has allocated a $1.8-million increase in certificated salaries, primarily due to automatic “step and column” increases and benefit cost increases. “We wanted to be upfront about it and transparent –this is our commitment for 2013,” Bagley said. “The folks at table can decide how that can be allocated.”
The Manhattan Beach United Teachers Association believes the district has more than adequate reserves to meet the union’s requests, according to its website. “That is among the largest reserves in the state and over double what the state suggests districts possess to be safe in these difficult budgetary times,” the teachers bargaining team wrote.
Bagley said this difference in views is why the teachers and the district haven’t reached a consensus. “It’s hard to come to an agreement on what to do with the money if there’s no agreement on what the money is,” he said.
