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2003-2004 Budget/End Year Fiscal Update (26-Jun-2003)
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June 25, 2003

BACKGROUND:
Preparing the budget for the 2003-2004 school year presented a number of major challenges for all school districts in California, but especially so for the Tamalpais Union High School District and other basic aid districts. The Governor’s January budget proposals, including the proposal to seize 85% of the excess property taxes and the $120 per student basic aid allocation, would have resulted in a “worst case” revenue loss of almost $7 million and a corresponding budget deficit of that same amount. A reduction in revenue of this proportion would have caused the District to dismantle its core program for students, something nobody in the District was prepared to accept. At the time, the “best case” deficit (basic aid districts assuming their “fair share” of revenue losses as compared to revenue limit districts) was projected at about $1.4 million.

The District worked diligently this spring to prepare for the “worst case” budget scenario. These efforts included Reduction in Force actions for certificated and classified employees, negotiations with staff on reducing health benefit costs, and a scouring of all 1000-6000 Object Code expenditures to reduce expenditures to minimal levels of support. The long range plan was to reduce $4.5 million in expenditures, use District reserves for the remaining $2.5 million, and seek support for the community through a parcel tax election in 2003-2004 to restore funding in 2004-2005 to maintain our core program.

The Governor’s proposals required an extraordinary political response. Thanks to the efforts of the parents, staff, students, community members and Legislators from all the basic aid districts in the state, sufficient pressure was placed on the Governor and our Legislature to convince him to pull the 85% proposal. Our district owes a special debt of gratitude to Assemblyman Joe Nation and Senator John Burton for their relentless support of the basic aid districts.

At this time, the agreed upon proposals impacting our district include the following:

• loss of $120 per student basic aid allocation ($453,000)
• loss of an additional 1.5% deficit on the District’s revenue limit ($318,851)
• loss of revenue from reductions in other state-wide categorical programs ($303,812)

If these education finance proposals are approved by the Legislature and Governor, the total impact on the District’s budget will be a loss of ($1,074,812) for the 2003-2004 school year. If the loss of revenue from the state for the 2002-2003 school year is included ($265,516), the total loss of revenue for the two years is ($1,340,328).

As a result of these reductions, the District’s overall revenue per student will decrease by ($419) per student as compared to 2002-2003, while our overall expenditures per student will decrease by ($663).

BUDGET RESTORATIONS:
The 2003-2004 school year budget, recommended to the Board for approval on June 24, showed a projected unrestricted positive year end balance of $783,000. This “surplus” was due to the District having made substantial reductions in expenditures in the 1000s-6000s budget categories to address the loss of close to $1.3 million in revenues as identified above.

Initial Restorations: In late May, the Board approved $551,000 of “Level One” restorations which were included in the June 24 budget. These restorations were as follows:

1. Certificated Staffing - All Schools (3.2 FTE contingency staffing for enrollment growth)
2. College and Career Specialist - All Schools (8 hours per day/1.0 FTE)
3. Instructional Support Services - All Schools (Outcome, graduation, math, new teacher and
   curriculum support)
4. Contracted Counseling Services - All Schools (New Perspectives/Full Circle)
5. Library Specialists - Redwood, Tam and Drake (12 hours per day/1.5 FTE)
6. Tamiscal Clerk I (3 hours per day/.375 FTE)
7. Custodial Support - All Schools (16 hours per day/2.0 FTE)
8. Secretarial Support - Drake High School Integrated Studies Program (3 days per week/.6 FTE)
9. Personnel Office Clerk - District Office (2 hours per day/.250 FTE)

Further Restorations: In mid-June, the administration reviewed the remainder of all budget reductions and recommended that certain reductions, “Level Two,” be considered for full or partial restoration. On June 24, the Board agreed to consider these restorations once the state budget is approved and/or school opens and the District can assess the impact of actual student enrollment on staffing and budgetary needs.

These possible restorations are as follows (not in priority order):

The Board agreed that the remainder of the reductions, “Level Three,” would not be considered for restoration for the 2003-2004 school year. However, these could be restored immediately from parent and/or foundation contributions and/or through the expenditure of site discretionary funds.

The Board approved Administrative Regulation 3290 which outlines the regulations governing these restorations. The Level Three reductions are as follows:

Summary:

Projected Ending Balance (6/30/04)	$783,000
Possible Level Two Restorations	(317,000)
Unallocated Funds	$466,000

The Board then determined that these remaining, unallocated funds will serve as an operational contingency to cover additional unidentified expenditures, additional unidentified revenue losses, and salary schedule compensation increases for District staff.

NEXT STEPS:
The administration will bring budget updates to the Board at the August 12 and August 26 Board meetings. Once the state budget is approved, and school opens in late August, the District can assess the impact of the state budget, actual student enrollment growth and staffing on the ability to act on Level Two restorations.

Please feel free to comment by e-mailing the Superintendent at blevinson@tuhsd.marin.k12.ca.us

MORE from the Superintendent’s Office on the fiscal crisis

NEWEST fiscal crisis info (26-Jun-2003)
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KEY CONTACTS IN SACRAMENTO
These are the telephone, fax and mailing addresses of key officials. Faxed or US-mailed LETTERS rather than emails are preferred.

Governor Gray Davis
c/o Michael Bustamante, Deputy Chief of Staff
State Capitol Bldg.
Sacramento, CA 95814
Ph: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-445-4633

Secretary for Education Kerry Mazzoni
Office of the Secretary for Education
1121 L Street, Suite 600
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-323-0611
Fax: 916-323-3753

Senator John Burton
State Capitol Bldg., Room 205
Sacramento, CA 95814
Ph: 916-445-1412
Fax: 916-445-4722

Assemblyman Joe Nation
State Capitol, Room 3013
Sacramento, CA 95814
Ph: 916-319-2006
Fax: 916-319-2106

Email addresses (note that faxed or US-mailed letters are preferred):
Governor Davis: governor@governor.ca.gov
Joe Nation: joe.nation@asm.ca.gov
Senator Burton’s website: http://democrats.sen.ca.gov/senator/burton/