‘Yes we do, no we don’t.
”
That’s not a textbook example of good budget crisis management
when a very serious topic like a hiring freeze is on the table.
Yet, that’s exactly the mixed message the community received from
the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Trustees and the GUSD
administration recently after district officials outlined a very
bleak budget picture
‘Yes we do, no we don’t.” That’s not a textbook example of good budget crisis management when a very serious topic like a hiring freeze is on the table. Yet, that’s exactly the mixed message the community received from the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Trustees and the GUSD administration recently after district officials outlined a very bleak budget picture.
School board and the administration went from near-certain implementation of a hiring freeze to gee, let’s wait and see what happens. No wonder the public gets confused about school budgets.
School board trustees report a likely $1 million deficit in two years; Superintendent Edwin Diaz supported by board leader Bob Kraemer says he will consider imposing a hiring freeze and, then, all bets are seemingly off.
Maybe GUSD is counting on front money from the Indian casino promoters to fill the budget hole? … but we digress.
The point is this: If the budget picture is serious enough to publicly propose a hiring freeze, then trustees should formally take up the idea, discuss it publicly and vote.
Obviously, a part of that debate should be centered on what positions would be frozen out – classroom teachers versus
maintenance workers, for example – and whether or not a hiring freeze would be the best way to close the budget gap. Might there be room to trim two or three GUSD administrators rather than cut at the classroom level? That certainly would be a question worthy of scrutiny by trustees.
It is worth noting, too, that the district and teachers are in the midst of grinding contract negotiations. Hopefully, the freeze was not raised as a negotiating tactic. If the trustees report the sky is falling, it better be the truth.
So far we’ve heard nothing that changes the projections by Steve Brinkman, the assistant superintendent of administrative services who has estimated that GUSD will have a $296,000 deficit going into the coming school year. And, as Brinkman said, “I think it could get bigger before we close.”
Trustees should come up with their budget solution sooner rather than later and remember the old adage, “The only tough decision you’ll ever regret is the one you put off making.”
