GILROY
– Gilroy Unified School District will consider cutting or
trimming 25 existing programs and services when it develops its
budget for the 2003-04 school year.
GILROY – Gilroy Unified School District will consider cutting or trimming 25 existing programs and services when it develops its budget for the 2003-04 school year.
The step is necessary, the district said Thursday, to absorb impending cuts in state funding which could total $1.2 million for next school year. Using a skeleton-crew staff to open the district’s new middle school and charging students to ride school busses are two ideas staff will evaluate on a cost-versus-benefit basis over the next few months.
The news came Thursday night at a budget study session and public forum, which saw a range of interest groups in the district – from teachers to special education parents – weigh in on how to best offset a $3 million loss in state funding over the next 18 months.
“Anything we look at is going to be emotional,” trustee Bob Kraemer said. “We’ve got millions to cut by next year and we need to save education in the classroom. This will require us to think out of the box.”
Teachers at the session said morale is too fragile to fix the budget via teacher layoffs. They pressed Superintendent Edwin Diaz for a clearer picture of what lies ahead for them next year.
“Being the optimistic person I am I hope we can meet the cuts by normal attrition,” Diaz said. “We’ll still be hiring new teachers next year, but I can’t imagine the numbers will be the same as the last few years since some programs may have to be cut.”
The district is already in a hiring freeze for its vacant positions, which includes classroom teachers, special education paraprofessionals and office clerks. For certain positions, such as classroom teachers, credentialed substitute teachers will be hired to fill vacancies that must be filled.
Diaz said if there are layoffs, teachers would be notified before March 15 or sooner.
“The frustration is that we’re being asked to cut programs, but the state is delinquent on telling us how much money they’re going to spend on these program in the first place,” Diaz said. “We need more time to look at which programs can be cut or scaled back.”
On a brighter note, Diaz said enrollment growth and additional federal funding would help offset some of the loss of state revenue for next year. Also, education lobbyists are pushing state lawmakers to give districts more local control over funding.
