OC Register: Saddleback Valley to cut lacrosse
March 3Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Saddleback district prepares to cut $10 million, 134 jobs
Latest plan scales back sports and bus service, boosts class sizes.
By SCOTT MARTINDALE
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
MISSION VIEJO – The Saddleback Valley Unified School District will need to cut $10 million from next year’s budget and about 134 jobs – including 33 classroom teachers – in response to the state budget signed Friday.
At a school board meeting Tuesday, district officials outlined a cost-cutting plan that includes canceling the college-level International Baccalaureate program at two of the district’s four high schools, scaling back the popular class-size reduction program in the primary grades, and making bus transit available only in areas with a “high need.”
Also under the plan, funding for high school lacrosse and roller hockey would be wiped out completely, as would all high school assistant sports coaches and the last remaining certificated librarians in high schools.
The cuts list also includes the Language Arts Assistance Program in elementary schools, which helps prevent children who struggle with language arts from falling through the cracks.
“No matter what we put on this list, people are going to say, ‘You can’t cut that; it’s too important,’ ” Trustee Dore Gilbert said at the meeting. “The reality is we’re going to cut.”
The school board is expected to authorize issuing layoff warnings at a March 10 board meeting. The layoffs become official if not rescinded by May 15.
The district lost money from its current 2008-09 budget, but officials said it was too late to make any cuts this year and the cuts would all be rolled into the 2009-10 budget.
Some parents who addressed the school board said trustees need to be more aggressive in addressing the budget crisis.
“You have a choice to continue to sit around and be stuck making decisions that will devastate, or you can be pioneers and explore new revenue,” said parent Amanda Morrell of Trabuco Canyon, who has two kids.
Also discussed was the continuing controversy over the school board’s January decision to keep Mission Viejo’s O’Neill Elementary School open. District staff had recommended closure this June as a cost-savings measure, but it was spared in a 3-2 school board vote.
On Tuesday, parents and some trustees said the school district should not be cutting programs and teachers without also closing O’Neill. The school’s closure would save the district about $500,000 annually in overhead expenses.
“If ever there was a time for us to be prudent, it’s now,” said parent Dolores Winchell of Lake Forest, who has two kids. “Cutting programs instead of closing underutilized schools is unconscionable.”
Although trustees said the $10 million in cuts would be devastating, the figure is not as bad as initially feared. Before the state adopted a 17-month state funding plan for public education, Saddleback officials said the cuts might top $19 million. The district was able to bring that figure down, in part, thanks to the state’s new flexibility on how schools spend some categorical funds – money that previously could only be spent on specific programs.
Under the rosier budget picture, some areas previously proposed to be eliminated – including the elementary vocal music program and all of the district’s assistant principals – are no longer on the recommended cut list.
“The school board should be commended for acknowledging that music and arts are core curriculum subjects that are weighted just as heavily as math, science, history and English,” said parent Dave Moehring of Rancho Santa Margarita, who has a son in high school.
