School district Board of Education approves the first budget cuts for next year.
By Nora Fleming / Special to The Malibu Times
Livid Santa Monica High School parents protested changes to the high school’s structure and staffing, which were approved by the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education at last week’s meeting as part of several cuts made to curtail the district’s impending deficit. The changes at Santa Monica High will mean Malibu High School will have a new assistant principal next school year.
Increased class sizes, reductions in contracted services and in special education budget, and categorically funded programs were also approved by the board on Thursday, but these initial cuts are only the first batch for the school district, as the deteriorating state economy has meant major reductions in funding to all California school districts.
The most recently released SMMUSD budget projections, continually in flux due to the state’s own financial uncertainties, predict a potential $10 million to $14 million deficit within the next two years if further reductions are not made for future budgets.
Santa Monica High School is divided into a six “house” system, which separates the district’s largest school into units with separate administration to create a more individualized educational experience for students. To the frustration of many community parents, the board approved reducing the six houses to five, with a loss of several house staff positions. The cut was made both to save money and, according to the district, to correspond with current and future enrollment numbers at the school.
Wendy Wax Gellis, the principal of SAMOHI’s “A” house for the past six years, in addition to the overseer of the school’s special education students, will now be reassigned to Malibu High School beginning July 1 as an assistant principal to fill a vacancy left by Jennifer Tedford. Gellis will likely be receiving a pay cut and reduced working days with the new position in Malibu.
“I have worked with Wendy before and find her positive energy to be inspiring,” wrote Malibu High School Principal Mark Kelly to Malibu school parents. “She is a smart and experienced leader who has always been an advocate for students, families, and high quality teaching and learning. As a professional and caring educator she will be a tremendous asset to our school community.”
Many speakers at the meeting were particularly vexed over Gellis’ move to Malibu and said she was needed more at SAMOHI, given the size of the school and achievement gap between the two school’s students.
The board did not approve all the district’s suggested cuts at the high school, however. In a 6-1 vote, with board member Maria Leon Vazquez dissenting, the board voted to keep “A” House’s two advisors and outreach specialist at least through the upcoming school year to ensure that rising seniors applying to colleges could maintain relationships with their counselors and that needy students would still have additional outreach support.
In the days preceding the board meeting, a flurry of e-mails circulated among community members, school district administration and board members over the proposal to cut one of SAMOHI’s houses and move Gellis to Malibu.
Some Santa Monica parents said the district had not paid heed to a “hybrid plan” proposed by several members of the PTA that included several cuts, but maintained the six houses and several of the reduced positions like Gellis’. It also called for revenue enhancers such as adding 36 permit students to the school.
“We don’t run public schools for people of high achievement, who can make decisions to go elsewhere… it’s the kids that have no choice about how our schools are run that these houses help most,” said Richard McKinnon, a member of the PTA Council, which came out against the change in house structure.
“There is no viable plan on the table tonight that gives anyone any confidence that this shift from six houses to five houses will be accomplished in a timetable relevant to these kids,” McKinnon added, voicing a concern expressed by many on Thursday that the district did not have an implementation strategy to make the transition successful.
Superintendent Tim Cuneo said district officials planned to continue meeting throughout the summer to develop a plan to ready the school for next year.
The modified reductions at SAMOHI, even with the loss of several positions, will mean $220,000 less of a reduction than the originally proposed $700,000 cut, and require the board to look for that same savings elsewhere within the district.
These reduction-combined with the district wide increased class sizes for grades K-3 and 6-12, and reduced funding for categorical programs, special education and contracted services-total $4.4 million.
The board will be adopting a 2009-2010 budget at its June 25 meeting, but with a grim budget forecast, which was made dramatically graver after the defeat of the state ballot measures last month, there will be substantial budget reductions for next school year and the subsequent years.
These could include even larger class sizes than proposed, consolidating smaller district schools such as those in Malibu, staff furloughs, and salary reductions and slashing the funding to programs and services.
The board and the district’s Financial Oversight Committee will be hosting their third budget workshop June 10, to precede the June 25 meeting.