Wednesday, May 20, 2009

It’s been a month or so since our last official update, but the results of the May 19 Special Election are in and things are not looking good.  The VUSD Board held the first of what will be a series of Public Budget Study Sessions last night and invited representatives from VUTA and CSEA officers and negotiating teams.  They also invited the VUSD Finance Advisory Committee, which is made up of community and business representatives.  They invited the VUSD PTA Council members and representatives from our local Chamber of Commerce.  This first session was very well-attended, and we want to thank all who came.  We encourage your continued attendance throughout the summer and fall as the Board works through this worsening state fiscal crisis.

District staff made a presentation on the requirements and regulations of the federal stimulus funds expected to be received by VUSD from the federal government.  While there was considerable details discussed, the simple overview is that these federal monies are one-time funds that can be spread out over a two-year period and will come in three main categories.

VUSD is scheduled to receive one-time money in special education and Title I.  Generally speaking, these funds must be spent in accordance with the restrictions in these programs and be supplemental to what we already spend.  There may be some flexibility to use special education funds as a one-time backfill for any district general fund money being applied to special education.  Thereby, freeing up some one-time general fund money to help achieve an annual balanced budget.

The third category of stimulus funds is called “stabilization” funds, and it is one-time money intended to help in three general areas. It can be used as a one-time source to backfill for state funding cuts and help achieve an annual balanced budget.  It can be used to enhance the instructional program and goals for student achievement; and it can be used to improve facilities efficiencies, annual building maintenance, and ADA access and compliance.

The stimulus funds are not intended to be used as a source of funds for shortfalls in ongoing, operational costs.

After the failure of yesterday’s ballot measures, we have been told to expect deeper cuts now in state revenues including a mid-year cut in our current fiscal year.

The VUSD Board planned for this possibility and will use some combination of district reserve and one-time stimulus funds to maintain our current levels of programs and staffing for the upcoming school year (2009-10).

We will, however, be officially deficit spending (in the red) starting July 1^st and could likely go into further deficit, pending deeper state cuts to our budget.

The Board is committed to an ongoing series of open Public Study Sessions to involve staff and community in adopting budget actions to navigate this difficult financial crisis and bring our budget back into balance by July 1, 2010.

The question was asked at the session last night if VUSD and the staff and parent community would have to look at all possible options for cutting costs over the next two to three years; and the answer was, “Yes.”

We doubt that there will be any more specific information from the state legislature over the next several months, so we will do our best to make our decisions locally and balance our budget despite the dysfunction from the state.

Respectfully,

Stan A. Carrizosa

Superintendent

Visalia Unified School District