The Redondo Beach Unified School district could face draconian budget cuts come November if the state-wide education initiatives, Proposition 30 or Proposition 38, are not passed. To counter potential cuts, RBUSD has devised a plan to save the waning budget and keep classrooms up to date. .
Bond Measure Q is central to the plan and will be on the same ballot as two state-wide education funding initiatives, Gov. Jerry Brown’s Proposition 30 and civil attorney Molly Munger’s Proposition 38. If passed, Prop 30 would raise $10 billion by increasing the state’s sales tax .25 percent for four years and raise income tax on annual earnings over $250,000 for five years, and Prop 38 would increase public education funding by $7 billion a year by increasing income tax for 12 years.
According to School Board Vice President Laura Emdee, if the governor’s initiative does not pass, the school district can expect $3.8 million in cuts. Emdee said that’s the equivalent to losing 19 school days. If the initiative does pass, she said that the district is technically in the same spot.
“We’re just hanging on, waiting for the next wave to break,” said Emdee at a recent school board meeting.
If the state tax initiatives do pass, RBUSD will not see the funding added to the district’s coffers until the end of the 2013 school year.
“We’re kind of [toast] in 2012-13,” Emdee said. “In the meantime we have to deal with the shortfall and wait for the money to come in. So our best-case scenario for 2012-13 is flat funding and we’ve lost $6 million over the last four years. So [there’s] very little fat to trim and no reserve to create a 21st century classroom.”
Measure Q seeks to raise $63 million from Redondo Beach residents that would go straight into district coffers. The bond, if passed, would cost voters an approximate $24 per $100,000 assessed value of their homes.
“That’s what local school bonds are for,” said Annette Alpern, RBUSD assistant superintendent. “The only people who benefit from it are the students in Redondo Beach. It’s very different than state-wide bonds.”
The school board was initially reluctant to include a bond measure or another option discussed, a parcel tax, on the November ballot. But a looming $2 million shortfall in the district’s $67 million annual budget compelled action.
“It’s minimal for what we’re going to get,” said board member Jane Diehl at an earlier meeting. “[I] think it’s something that we’re [doing that’s] proactive in trying to bring money back into the district to take care of the $2 million loss and a possible $3.6 or $3.8 million [loss] in November, if not more, because we don’t know what’s going to happen. [It’s] something we need to do to be proactive.”
Financial quandary
Like all school districts in California, RBUSD has faced five years of consecutive budget cuts. In 2009 alone, the district was forced to make two rounds of cuts totaling $5 million. According to funding levels guaranteed for education under Prop. 98, the district has lost a total of $14 million annually intended for its general fund.
This year, the district for the first time implemented cost-cutting furlough days, taking teachers out of classrooms for five days. If neither state proposition passes, it is estimated as many as 19 furlough days may be required for RBUSD to balance its budget.
“If propositions 30 and 38 don’t pass we’re in serious financial trouble,” said Diehl. “We’re just trying to do the best we can to protect our schools so we have a quality education for students of Redondo…. We have a serious problem here and we need the public’s help.”
Diehl said she understands that the public might be skeptical because of previously passed bond measures – including 2008’s Measure C – but she cautioned that Redondo needs to find some mechanism that’s acceptable to the community to fund schools because of the state’s cuts.
RBUSD parent Sean Foley is worried about the repercussions if the state initiatives do not pass, and said that he believes that Measure Q could make a big difference.
“As a parent I find it frustrating that we have no say how funds earmarked for education are handled at the state level,” Foley said, adding, “When the state budget is squeezed, education gets the axe. We don’t get a chance to vote on it.” Foley said that Measure Q is a way for the community to take a little bit of control over the money for schools. “It cannot be taken by the state and it improves the schools upcoming budget,” Foley said.
“Great communities don’t exist where public schools are bad,” said Alpern. “We’re trying to be smart and strategic about how we can utilize dollars that frankly aren’t being supported by the federal or state government.”
If passed, the bond would do three things: upgrade the schools’ technology infrastructure, set up a technology endowment to keep the district up-to-date now and in the future, and help lower electricity costs by taking the district almost entirely off the grid by installing solar panels at all schools.
“This is different [than other bonds],” said Emdee. “The other ones are fairly straight forward, ‘Do a bond, build a building.’ This one is a little trickier and nuanced. It’s more of a spend slowly kind of bond to help safeguard ourselves against Sacramento budget cuts. People think technology is about a computer; it’s really about developing a plan to make the school district more effective and efficient and to maintain the quality of instruction inside of all the budget cuts.”
Emdee noted that the technology plan is not specific because equipment is constantly changing, explaining, “It’s more about being flexible and light on our feet and being able to address the future environment.”
According to Chief Technology Officer Derek Kinsey, the school’s wireless infrastructure is already taxed to the brink. “When we built it,” Kinsey said, “we built it for everybody to have a laptop and possibly an iPod,” said Kinsey. “When we designed it the iPhone and the tablet didn’t even exist.” Kinsey compared the current network to the 405 during rush hour: “Data networks are no different. It’s very important that we keep widening the pipe as demand gets more and more.”
Tech upgrades
The technology upgrades would make classrooms available 24/7, so kids could turn in homework assignments at all hours. and teachers would be able to see the student’s progress in live-time. More classes would be available online and everything would be done electronically.
“It’s been done before, but you have to customize it for your school district and your process and move it in a gradual pace, not just flip the switch,” said Kinsey.
The endowment would help the district’s technology department better prepare for technology that hasn’t been invented yet. “A lot of what we’re doing,” Kinsey said, “is listening to what the students want and understanding that interactive media of going back-and-forth is the future.”
“What if you had an electronic text book where when you press play you can see John Kennedy’s speech instead of just reading about it,” said Emdee. “Things beyond our frame of mind are possible and the bond will be there spread out so we can adjust to them.”
While upgrading the system, the district will also use the money to prepare for the Common Core State Standards Initiative, a nation-wide program that will standardize tests and curriculums to help ensure students across the country have common standards that are measurable nationwide.
The program is expected to be implemented by 2014, and many textbooks associated with the program will be digital. Schools in California will be expected to comply with the new standards and practices, while receiving less money from the state. Many schools have postponed implementing new technology, like digital text books, while they wait for more information about the common core standard requirements.
Even if class sizes are increased, Diehl said that having improved technology will help teachers to better see in real-time how students are doing and be able to get feedback from tests earlier to better correct deficiencies. “It’s a tool to help us do a better job,” said Diehl.
Going solar
The bond will also free up general fund money by installing solar panels across the school district to supply 90 percent of the district’s total electricity needs through solar energy. It would also reduce the district’s carbon emissions and provide shade for both cars and people. Emdee estimates that the solar panel shade structures that would be installed at every school would initially cost $15 million, but would save $500,000 from the general fund yearly, freeing up money to potentially keep teachers and prevent additional furlough days. The solar and energy efficiency project would be modeled after projects implemented in districts across the state that have been proven to save money. The district could also potentially sell the energy generated by the project. Emdee said that the project will not be investigated fully until they get approval for Q from the citizens.
“Other schools took furlough days and their reserves are healthier, they were able to survive the tide,” said Diehl. “Redondo has always given teachers the full amount of their salary, it’s a choice and it’s important for us to pay people who work for us and continue to find ways to have the teachers there. If a child’s not there, they can’t learn.”
Diehl emphasized that the budget problem is not because of bad management, adding, “There are many factors we’ve looked at to be responsible and to do the best with the resources we are given.”
“At first I couldn’t imagine asking for another bond,” Emdee said, “[but] the voters are committed to education in Redondo Beach. They expect the leadership to provide the best education possible and they are willing to support us, despite both [state] initiatives.” Visit yesonq.net for more information. ER
