4-way plan for Turlock schools to handle cuts

TURLOCK -- With a four-prong approach, Turlock Unified School District can contain a $2.6 million loss in state dollars next year without layoffs, Superintendent William H. Gibson told about 40 school employees Thursday.

A few administrators, staff members, but mostly teachers attended the first of four forums in the Turlock High School cafeteria.

"I have every confidence that we'll keep (cuts) away from students and teachers," Gibson said.

Lori Decker, the district's chief financial officer, said the district likely will see $2.6 million less in the 2008-09 fiscal year than this year despite a small and steady increase in enrollment.

Administrators said they can lower the $100 million budget without cutting into students or teachers, with the following approach:

Attrition: Positions left vacant by nonessential workers will not be filled.

Cost savings: A variety of strategies from energy conservation to transportation to reduced legal fees. About $423,000 has been identified.

New moneymakers: Such as an expanded Saturday school at Turlock Junior High, which gives the district a higher student count, from which state dollars are allocated.

Reserves: The district has a savings account of about $8 million to lean on.

By keeping positions dark and cutting in obvious places, the district should be able to weather the next three years, until the economy rebounds, which Gibson said he expects to happen. The plan must stretch years rather than months to work, he said.

Attrition, for example, doesn't work well in a six-month window, but in a year or 18 months, a "fairly significant" turnover is routine. Situations could arise, Gibson said, where teachers are forced to transfer to other schools, but that won't be clear until next year's student levels are firmed up, after March 15.

Class sizes will not be increased, he said.

For support staff, the scenario is a little different. If one school loses three secretaries and another has a full complement, some secretaries could work part time at schools that are short staffed, adding up to full-time hours.

The teachers and district employees at Thursday's meetings listed extracurricular activities, particularly sports and music, as areas that shouldn't see cuts, along with textbook and learning material purchases, visual arts, agriculture and reading programs.

Hard numbers on how many positions attrition is expected to free up, where money will be made and where money will be saved are expected to be presented at the district's April budget workshop.

Bee staff writer Michael R. Shea can be reached at mshea@modbee.com or 578-2391.