Patterson to cut $2M from school budget

By CHRISTINA SALERNO
csalerno@modbee.com

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PATTERSON -- Patterson Joint Unified School District board of trustees agreed Monday to trim $2 million from its upcoming budget year by eliminating some positions, reducing transportation costs and switching Patterson High School to a six-period day.

The district must close a $1.66 million deficit from its $28 million budget for the 2008-09 school year in response to Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposed cutbacks of billions in state education funding during the next 18 months.

The board accepted a list of staff reductions that include about 26 teachers, counselors, instructional aides, coaches, custodians and district office positions. Because most of the cuts will be done through attrition or reassignments, five employees will receive layoff notices. The district is required to notify those employees by March 15.

Modbee.com continuing coverage: School budget crisis

Other savings will come from switching Patterson High School from a seven-period to a six-period day, curtailing districtwide expenditures by 10 percent, reducing the use of consultants, delaying the purchase of a student information system and reducing transportation costs by ending busing to some sports events.

These cuts amounted to $1.85 million in general and categorical fund reductions.

The board also agreed on a "buffer" of about $155,000 in additional reductions. Those call for a 50 percent cut in travel and conferences, reducing some busing costs, increasing fund-raisers and allowing some flexibility in class size reductions. Kindergarten through third-grade classes that have been restricted to 20 students might be bumped to as many as 25.

The additional reductions allowed the board to bring back a teacher at Las Palmas Elementary School, a custodian and a groundsperson. It also approved a list of five other priorities that will come back first should additional funding become available.

Before the board made its recommendations, it listened to pleas from district groundsman John Tiexiera to spare a member of his staff.

"A lot of people think we just do mowing," he said. "No. We prune trees, shrubs, edge all the irrigation we've got to deal with. There's no way we can do it with three people. The manpower isn't there."

Gloria Pinedo, chapter presi- dent of the California School Employees Association, said all of the eliminated positions will have an "indirect or direct" impact on students. As a mem- ber of the budget advisory committee that helped compile the list of cuts the board ap- proved Monday, Pinedo said she was faced with the emotionally difficult task of looking at the position and not the person.

"Some of those positions are here tonight," Pinedo said. "These positions have families, need a home and need to put food on the table."

Bee staff writer Christina Salerno can be reached at csalerno@modbee.com or 238-4574.