The resignation of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s Chief financial officer causes some to say there is a financial crisis. Board members say nothing is wrong.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
Although Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District staff and elected officials do not publicly appear concerned about the district’s financial situation, others said at a workshop on Monday that they were concerned about what they considered to be a crisis situation. This comes in the wake of a proposed deal with the teachers union for a 5 percent raise and the resignation of the district’s chief financial officer shortly after he said he would not endorse the proposal.
“The district press release that referred to this [CFO Winston Braham’s resignation], said in a passive voice that ‘a crisis does not seem to exist,'” said Tom Belin, president of the PTA Council at Santa Monica’s Roosevelt Elementary School. “I would say this statement is just plain wrong if only because I see this as a crisis.”
Belin then asked for people in the audience to raise their hands if they believed Braham’s resignation was a signal there is a crisis. Approximately 25 people, more than half the members of the public in attendance, raised their hands. Nearly all the members of the school district’s Financial Oversight Committee have expressed alarm as well.
Board of Education Vice President Kathy Wisnicki said in an interview on Tuesday that she disagreed with Belin’s assessment.
“I believe that we have challenges we have to resolve, but because we’ve had some changes occur doesn’t mean our financial health is in jeopardy,” Wisnicki said.
Braham’s resignation letter still has not been made public. The Malibu Times requested the letter last week, and was told the district had 10 days to release it. Braham submitted the letter on Nov. 20. Wisnicki said in an interview last week that it made no mention of a disagreement between Braham and District Superintendent Dianne Talarico over whether the district could afford to give the teachers a 5 percent salary raise.
Last October, the district sent a document to the Los Angeles County Office of Education that detailed the SMMUSD’s financial situation and its ability to meet the proposed agreement with the teachers union. Talarico signed the document stating the district could handle the raise, while Braham checked a box next to a statement saying he could not endorse the plan. In a letter dated Nov. 1 that was sent by a LACOE official to the district, it noted Braham’s lack of support among many concerns about the SMMUSD’s plan.
“Based on our analysis of the district’s projections… the bulk of the funds to support this agreement would come from the existing reserves, which are one-time funds,” LACOE Business Services Consultant Jon London wrote. “As a result, district reserve levels are projected to decrease… In the absence of a fiscal stabilization plan that restores at least minimum reserve levels… our office is concerned that the SMMCTA [Santa Monica-Malibu Classroom Teachers Association] agreement could endanger the fiscal stability of the district.”
According to the LACOE’s projection, the district would have a reserve below the minimum 3 percent by the 2008-09 fiscal year if it were to pay the teachers the estimated additional $3 million per year. London requested the district come up with what he called a Recovery Plan so the reserve funds would not sink too far.
Several school board members said at the workshop on Monday that they were not concerned the money couldn’t be found. Wisnicki said the financial statement the district sent to the LACOE did not take into account that the district often overestimates costs, and does not end up spending all the money it has budgeted for certain items.
“At some point we have a responsibility to actually be spending public funds on education,” Wisnicki said. “We’re not a banking institution. We have to have a healthy level of reserves. We have done a good job of that, and we might have some excess above and beyond that.”
The district has hired Anthony Bridges from the private Fiscal Crisis Management Assessment Team, which Wisnicki stressed has a name that sounds more intense than the situations it deals with, to review the district’s financial status. Bridges will reveal his findings at a meeting next month. At that time, the district will vote on the proposed agreement with the teachers union. The board will also discuss and possibly vote on a plan that will be sent to the LACOE on how to keep the district’s reserve fund above the minimum amount.