November 28, 2011 Board of Ed Summary

November 30, 2011

In Board Watch Blog

The OUSD School Board held a special meeting Monday night to discuss budget priorities, particularly given the dire news out of Sacramento.  Come January, OUSD could face $8.3 million in funding cuts from the state because of the state's revenue shortfall.  The District's power point presentation contains a wealth of financial information for those interested in the budget allocation centrally v. the site, etc.

With the last state budget, there was an assumed increase in state revenue of $4 billion, and it appears that $3.7 billion of that will go unrealized.  As a result, massive cuts statewide could automatically be "triggered," including upwards of $1 billion of mid-year cuts for K-12 schools statewide.

However, Vernon Hal, Deputy Superintendent for Business Services and Operations, and Superintendent Tony Smith, said the District would be able to absorb the cuts without making any mid-year adjustments.  Hal said the District was fiscally conservative with the 2011-12 budget, which will allow the district to absorb any cuts by the money set aside in the general fund balance.

The District will not know if the cuts will in fact be "triggered" until January 10, when Governor Jerry Brown announces the budget.

• Click here for the powerpoint presentation.

Enrollment Projections: 2012-13
In looking ahead, District staff included an enrollment projection for 2012-13 school year that included an increase of 126 students over 2011-12.  Those projections were based on five assumptions:(1) school closures, (2) grade configuration changes, (3) new charter schools, (4) change in starting age for kindergarten students, and (5) an increased seat capacity at a number of existing schools (because of school closures). 

• For a more in-depth explanation of the District staff's projection, go to page 26-27 of the powerpoint presentation.

The Board spent significant time discussing the projections.  Early in the school closure process, District staff cited a potential loss of up to 20% of students (per closing school), based on nationwide trends.  However, Monday night the District staff said they expect to lose 5-10% of students from each of the closing schools.  One of the reasons cited for minimizing the students leaving the District was the one-on-one attention transitioning students have been given through the closure process.

Additionally, the District hopes that reconfiguring some schools to K-8 will help reduce the number of students who leave OUSD after elementary school.  Despite the potential of two District schools converting to charter schools - and likely taking a significant portion of their current enrollment - and several other new charter schools potentially opening up, District staff anticipates a district-wide enrollment of 38,166.

Director Kakashiba cautioned the board in looking at the numbers, saying he felt they were "overly optimistic."

Budget Priorities
Before adjourning to closed session, Director Kakashiba asked Superintendent Tony Smith what he believes the District's budget priorities should as the Board prepares to discuss next year's budget.

Smith said spending priorities should focus on two areas: high schools and fifth grade.  In devoting additional resources to high schools, Smith hopes to increase graduation rates as well as college and career readiness.  Smith said it was crucial that the District "get high school right."  

Additionally, Smith believes the District should focus on fifth grade because it is the "fulcrum" as students transition to middle school.  Because the District loses a significant number of students in the transition to fifth and sixth grade, he believes the District can increase enrollment by boosting efforts to engage fifth grade students across the district.

Posted by Admin - Comments (0) - Permalink

Tags: attendance, Budget, Charter Schools, mid-year cuts, trigger