Camarillo schools brace for budget cuts
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

Pleasant Valley School District could lose nearly $2 million if the governor's proposed budget for next year is approved by the Legislature and if local teachers accept the district's latest salary offer, district officials said last week.

District officials explained at community meetings- El Descanso School on April 14, La Mariposa April 16 and the school board April 17- that the $4.4 billion the governor wants to cut from education will mean a $1 million loss to the district's $52 million budget.

In addition, the offer of a 2 percent salary increase that Pleasant Valley made to its teachers union in February would cost the district an additional $700,000 if accepted.

Superintendent Luis Villegas said to absorb that kind of loss, the district will not offer summer school this year, saving about $150,000, and is considering other cost-cutting measures, such as charging families for bus service. In addition, school closures remain a possibility for the future, although the district won't close schools next year, he said.

"Long term, I see us having to study . . . that particular topic," Villegas said at the April 14 meeting.

The potential loss from the state amounts to nearly $3.1 million and includes $2.3 million lost because of declining enrollment, Assistant Superintendent Linda Bekeny said. The loss, however, is offset by a $2million savings in teachers' salaries because fewer students in the district mean fewer teachers are needed, she said.

Last month, Pleasant Valley notified 27 temporary teachers the district won't hire them for the 2008-09 school year, Assistant Superintendent Linda Peralta said. State law requires school districts to notify teachers by March 15 when it's believed they won't needed for the next school year, even if the district ends up rehiring them.

The school district this year lost nearly 400 students, 90 percent of them to the Camarillo Academy of Progressive Education charter school, Bekeny said. Former Pleasant Valley parents founded the academy last fall because they were unhappy with the district for closing their school in June, Los Senderos Open School.

The district has also been at odds with its teachers union, the Pleasant Valley Education Association. Talks over salary and benefits broke off in December after teachers rejected a 3 percent pay raise and one-time $700 bonus from the district. Both sides have been meeting with a mediator since March.

Villegas said charging for bus services, which cost the district $1 million a year, won't cover actual costs but only offset them and may result in the loss of more students. Some school districts that began charging for student transportation have seen their enrollment decline, he said.

Bekeny said despite the potential loss of state revenue, the district could reap $1.5 million more a year from the state if every student attended school every day. Pleasant Valley has a 96 percent student attendance rate and loses $11,140 a day for the 4 percent who are not in school on any given day, she said.

In related news, Villegas said the district is in no way responsible for a recent phone survey regarding the possibility of it becoming a K-12 district.

District staff is legally prohibited from participating in campaign efforts while on duty, he said at the school board meeting.