School Board Gives Okay to Slash 200 Jobs

By Jorge Casuso

Feb. 20 -- In a preemptive move to bridge a looming shortfall that could reach nearly $13.8 million, the School Board Thursday night gave Superintendent John Deasy the go-ahead to slash 200 jobs, reduce programs and increase class sizes across the district.

The full cuts slated for the upcoming school year would be averted if the City boosts its ongoing $3.5 million a year in funding or voters approve a $225 parcel tax on June 3 that would pump $6.5 million for six years into the cash-strapped district, or both.

"The cuts are very real," Deasy said after the vote. "If the community supports the school funding measure, then a chunk of (the cuts) can be returned.

"If the City should provide more ongoing funding, then another chunk can be returned, and people can have jobs in Santa Monica," Deasy said. "The community has options to forestall a large amount of this."

The result of a historic State budget shortfall, the cuts would impact nearly every department. They include slashing 12 administrators, 91 teachers (including al the elementary music teachers), 35 elementary librarians, approximately 56 teacher aids, janitors, cafeteria workers and computer technicians. In addition, all elementary physical education teachers, athletic trainers and lifeguards would lose their jobs.

The cuts would also increase third grade classes from 20 to 30 students for every teacher, and class sizes at Lincoln and John Adams middle schools would be boosted from 30 to 35 students for every teacher. Class size will also increase at Santa Monica and Malibu high schools, where the ratio of students per teacher would rise from 33 to 37.

District officials are poised to give unionized workers notices that they may not be rehired, something they must do under State law by March 15.

Representatives of the teachers union, which opposes the cuts, have said they will work to find other revenue sources and lobby the City council, which faces an estimated $9 million budget shortfall of its own, to boost school funding.

The school district cuts come two months after the board took actions to help bridge a $3.5 million shortfall in the current school year, also due to State cuts. In December, the board unanimously voted to increase the price of school lunch items across the board -- from cookies to burritos -- by a quarter.

The board also doubled the yearly cost of bus passes, including the rate for needy students, and increased the district cost for field trips, which are usually picked up by PTAs and paid for through fundraising efforts.

The initial round of budget cuts -- which include a hiring freeze and cuts in funds for school improvements -- came after Santa Monica and Malibu voters rejected a $300 parcel tax that would have pumped an estimated $9.6 million a year into the district.