Bus route consolidation in the City of Fort Bragg to a single route are among the cost-cutting measures enacted by the Fort Bragg Unified School District to start the 2010-2011 school year.
There have also been staff reductions, but those may be temporarily tempered by a federal rescue package. But the temporary adjustments can”t change the fact Fort Bragg schools” financial reserves are dwindling and much bigger budget cuts loom in 2011 and 2012.
The jobs bill signed last week by President Obama included $160 billion in stimulus money for the rehiring of California teachers. That may result in full reinstatement of two part-time teachers at Dana Gray Elementary School.
But FBUSD Superintendent Don Armstrong warned the board last week there are some strings attached which have not yet been untangled, such as the question of whether the state needs to pass a budget before schools get the money.
“We are waiting to hear about the Jobs Bill money from Washington, which will have the effect of undoing any lay-offs,” said Armstrong..
At the end of last school year, FBUSD laid off two office assistants, who each work 8-hour days, and two librarians, who work 6.5 and 7 hours per day, leaving the district with two part-time librarians to cover four libraries. Ten teachers retired last year, but only seven positions were rehired.
Those cuts will stand, along with the bus route reductions and other cuts.
Back to work will be music teacher John Gilmore and art teacher Barbara Pedersen at Dana Gray Elementary School. That means there will be art and music programs for grades 3-5, with the focus on fifth grade.
So far, private moneys from Arts for All and moneys outside of the school board”s control are being used for that. That situation may change with the special Obama stimulus money.
The Dana Gray Site Council found enough money to pay the two teachers at 40 percent, rather than the 50 percent part-time rate for Pederson and 60 percent for Gilmore. The 40 percent part-time position comes with no benefits, while the teachers were able to buy partial benefits until this year. They have both applied for another position at the school.
“Technically, we did hire back the two teachers at a lesser percentage 40 percent as opposed to 60 percent, but we will reinstate once we get word about the money,” said Armstrong.
New principal
Dana Gray also has a new principal, Lupe Gutierrez Merritt, replacing Nancy Doll.
“We are very proud to have a Latino principal coming in,” Armstrong told the FBUSD board last week. “She was the unanimous first choice of the selection committee.”
Merritt has served as a principal in both the Monterey and Lewiston areas, having previously worked as a special education teacher in Del Norte County.
The federal moneys for schools should mean $170 billion for California schools, which Armstrong said could mean a boost for teacher rehiring in the $200,000 range for FBUSD this year, when the technical obstacles can be overcome.
School bus routes
For parents, a more practical hurdle will be getting used to new bus stops and times.
Busses will still run the same routes outside the city, although the number of pickups will change.
Inside the city, there will be one basic route before and after school. School start times have been adjusted so that students can travel between schools on that bus route. The schedule was published in the Advocate-News Aug. 12. It can also be found on the school district website or obtained by calling school.
Trustee Jennifer Owen worried about the impact of changes and even short walks for kindergarten kids. She suggested parents resume and increase “Walking School Bus” efforts where parents walk kids to the stops.
She said there is a Safe Routes to School committee that can help, but needs more volunteers to function.
School transfers
A big change for school boards this year is new state legislation which allows students from lower performing schools to transfer to a school with a better average test score without board approval from the school they are leaving.
Originally, the legislation was supposed to apply to the 1,000 lowest performing schools. But the list of 1,000 has a long list of exemptions, such as the rule that no more than 10 percent of schools in any single district can end up on the list and there are special exemptions for high schools and middle schools.
That leaves every elementary school in every Mendocino Coast district on the list, including Dana Gray and nearby Mendocino Grammar School. Students would apparently be able to make that Fort Bragg to Mendocino transfer under the law, with approval of the destination school.
“As I have been able to determine, you can transfer to other schools on the list, but it has to be a school with a higher API and the school you are transferring to must have room,” Armstrong said.
Projects update
As summer ends with the start of school on Aug. 23, FBUSD Facilities Director John Griffiths described summer projects which created a new weight room at Fort Bragg High School, a new fence around the batting cages there, a dryrot repair project at the bus barn, a new fence at Redwood School and a paving project at Dana Gray that includes a new tether ball installation.
One modular building was moved to the district office area but the schools hope to get rid of another three. Otherwise, demolition costs could be in excess of $10,000, Griffiths told the board.
Budget approved
Nobody from the public commented at public hearings on the myriad of issues facing schools this year.
At the end of the three-hour meeting, the board approved the $17 million 2010-2011 general fund budget.
FBUSD is working with $700,000 less in general fund moneys than in the past and is supported by temporary moneys, so that the full impact of ongoing cuts are not yet being felt, Kathryn Charters, director of business services, told the board. She said the district is burning through its reserves.
Based on current budget projections, schools will need to cut $1.2 million for the 2011-2012 school year. Add another $250,000 in cuts on top of that for 2012-2103, Charters said.
“It”s all based on budget assumptions and even the assumptions keep changing …. We really have our work cut out for us,” said Charters.
Furloughs which could cut student school hours will be one idea, along with certain online classes. Ideas for 2011-2012 cuts will be brought to the board in December.
