School District saves half of pink-slipped positions
by Jennifer Evans (Updated: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 3:36 PM PDT)
Superintendent Geoff Yantz described the financial course for 2009-10 as “tumultuous and unpredictable” in presenting the El Segundo Unified School District’s budget at the June 23 School Board meeting.
Just a few months ago, on March 3 after the district issued 41 pink slips, the board was faced with crying students, and parents and teachers distraught over the board’s consideration of cutting certain positions.
Although the board was able to rescind some of those predicted cuts during this week’s school board meeting when it approved the 2009-10 fiscal year budget, the district was still forced to cut more than a million dollars in staff and services.
“As each benchmark for our evaluation and reporting of our financial status arrived, there were tremendous changes from the previous period,” Yantz wrote in the documented budget. “Estimated Revenue Limit, which represents over 70 percent of the district’s revenues, was a roller coaster ride. The state could not come to agreement regarding the amount of deficit it needed to apply to revenue limit to get the state budget balanced.”
Although the ESUSD is required to submit a final budget by July 1, the district has 45 days to revise the budget. “We are hoping the state passes its budget by our July 16 School Board meeting, so we know better where we stand and hopefully we can reinstate some of the positions or services we had to cut,” Yantz said.
Some of the major positions which are currently scheduled for layoff at Richmond Street School in the 2009-10 school year are one physical education teacher, one special education teacher, an attendance clerk, an assistant principal and a custodian.
El Segundo Middle School will lose one full-time teacher, while cuts at El Segundo High School will include one full-time counselor, an educational adviser, a librarian, a custodian, a professional expert for the band, a vocal music accompanist and a part-time physical education aide.
Besides staff, the district will also eliminate certain events and services including the health fair, driver education, an advertising budget, virtual academy adviser and teacher appreciation week supplies. There will also be a 25-percent reduction in coaching stipends and a reduction of technology support staff.
“We are really getting hit hard,” Yantz said. “We are running with a really lean staff right now.”
On a more positive note, of the 41 pink slips handed out in February, more than half of the predicted layoffs and reductions were rescinded in a resolution passed by the School Board during the meeting. Among the positions and services reinstated were: an elementary reading specialist; elementary special education classroom instructional services; middle school counseling services; three middle school physical education instructional services; middle school computer instructional services; middle school math instructional services; and other teachers, aides and personnel providing instruction and support for journalism, ASB, counseling, academic decathlon, special education, drama and art at the middle school and high school.
Some other positions, such as the Center Street School and RSS PE teachers and reading specialists, were saved with funds raised by the El Segundo Educational Foundation.
Yantz explained that the district carefully considered many options to balance the budget. “Most cuts and changes were made with the primary consideration of keeping the cuts as far from the classroom as possible,” he wrote in his report of the budget.
To read the El Segundo Unified School District budget, visit www.elsegundousd.net Superintendent Geoff Yantz described the financial course for 2009-10 as “tumultuous and unpredictable” in presenting the El Segundo Unified School District’s budget at the June 23 School Board meeting.
Just a few months ago, on March 3 after the district issued 41 pink slips, the board was faced with crying students, and parents and teachers distraught over the board’s consideration of cutting certain positions.
Although the board was able to rescind some of those predicted cuts during this week’s school board meeting when it approved the 2009-10 fiscal year budget, the district was still forced to cut more than a million dollars in staff and services.
“As each benchmark for our evaluation and reporting of our financial status arrived, there were tremendous changes from the previous period,” Yantz wrote in the documented budget. “Estimated Revenue Limit, which represents over 70 percent of the district’s revenues, was a roller coaster ride. The state could not come to agreement regarding the amount of deficit it needed to apply to revenue limit to get the state budget balanced.”
Although the ESUSD is required to submit a final budget by July 1, the district has 45 days to revise the budget. “We are hoping the state passes its budget by our July 16 School Board meeting, so we know better where we stand and hopefully we can reinstate some of the positions or services we had to cut,” Yantz said.
Some of the major positions which are currently scheduled for layoff at Richmond Street School in the 2009-10 school year are one physical education teacher, one special education teacher, an attendance clerk, an assistant principal and a custodian.
El Segundo Middle School will lose one full-time teacher, while cuts at El Segundo High School will include one full-time counselor, an educational adviser, a librarian, a custodian, a professional expert for the band, a vocal music accompanist and a part-time physical education aide.
Besides staff, the district will also eliminate certain events and services including the health fair, driver education, an advertising budget, virtual academy adviser and teacher appreciation week supplies. There will also be a 25-percent reduction in coaching stipends and a reduction of technology support staff.
“We are really getting hit hard,” Yantz said. “We are running with a really lean staff right now.”
On a more positive note, of the 41 pink slips handed out in February, more than half of the predicted layoffs and reductions were rescinded in a resolution passed by the School Board during the meeting. Among the positions and services reinstated were: an elementary reading specialist; elementary special education classroom instructional services; middle school counseling services; three middle school physical education instructional services; middle school computer instructional services; middle school math instructional services; and other teachers, aides and personnel providing instruction and support for journalism, ASB, counseling, academic decathlon, special education, drama and art at the middle school and high school.
Some other positions, such as the Center Street School and RSS PE teachers and reading specialists, were saved with funds raised by the El Segundo Educational Foundation.
Yantz explained that the district carefully considered many options to balance the budget. “Most cuts and changes were made with the primary consideration of keeping the cuts as far from the classroom as possible,” he wrote in his report of the budget. To read the El Segundo Unified School District budget, visit www.elsegundousd.net
Question: At this week’s Hermosa Beach City Council meeting, Mayor Kit Bobko proposed having the Aug. 11 meeting at Hermosa View School in order to better focus on issues affecting eastside residents. The council voted 4-1 to ask staff to study the cost and logistics of relocating for the one meeting. * Do you think city officials in Hermosa, Manhattan and Redondo focus more on issues affecting residents west of the highway than those on the east?
* Do you think that cities and local chambers of commerce are more responsive to the concerns of businesses located closer to the beach?
* Do you think there are some concerns and challenges unique to each side of town or is the east/west divide overblown?
from Archives: El Segundo News 
