OUSD plans staffing cuts
by Bret Bradigan

Dealing with dropping enrollment has become the theme of recent Ojai Unified School District board meetings, as Superintendent Van Riley said Tuesday that he has a target of $2.2 million - nearly 10 percent of the district budget - to cut by June.
He also reported that nine teaching positions will be lost. Six of those positions will be lost through leaves, transfers and retirements, while three elementary school teachers will be informed by March 15 that their services are no longer required. Riley said the teachers were screened through a scale of priorities based on district needs - including teachers with master's degrees, bachelor's degrees in English or mathematics, have taught in other areas than elementary classrooms, having supplemental credentials, and, all other things being equal, using the highest Social Security numbers to determine seniority.
"We came up with the criteria we felt was important," he said.
With six board meetings to go before presenting his budget cut plan, Riley said the emphasis would be on keeping those cuts as far as possible from the classroom, and to gather as many ideas and suggestions from as many sources as possible. He mentioned that he had twice met with the Ojai Federation of Teachers and the California School Employees Association about the budget cuts, as well as the modified calendar issue that polarized the community.
"I want to make sure that every employee understands the impact of the budget situation," he said. Riley will present an update to the board at the March 19 meeting, and ask for further direction. Guidance will also be sought from the community as the process proceeds.
The real hard work begins in May, when the governor's budget plans come out, with his education budget that will give the district actual dollar amount to plan with. Then the budget cut proposal will be submitted to the board in June for approval.
The key, as evidenced by the community concern over the calendar issue, is to seek as much consensus as possible about what and where the cuts need to be made. "We're certainly not trying to hide anything," he said. "A lot needs to happen between now and then."
A projected enrollment decline of 189 students, mostly in elementary grades, has prompted these budget-cut plans. Ventura Unified School District's strict ban against interdistrict transfer cut off 120 students from the district this year, mostly from Oak View, though 60 students sought, and were granted, waivers.
In other budget news, Danielle Pusatere, the district's director of fiscal services, presented, as required by state law, interim financial reports and a budget revision for the halfway mark of the 2001-02 school year. According to Pusatere, the district is running within budget "almost to the penny." With pay raises and other expenses, and with $77,000 lost due to decreased enrollment, and more money coming in from grants and paid-off loans, the district is about $22,000 in the black.
The district also received good news from Assistant Superintendent Jim Berube, who announced that, in partnership with the Ojai Rotary Clubs and the Los Angeles Times, nearly $7,600 had been raised to buy 2,218 new books for the school libraries with the Reading by 9 program.
"They arrived just in time for Dr. Seuss' birthday," on March 2, he said.
Newest board member Bob Unruhe called for a review of the district's reading programs. "Reading is the most important thing we do," he said. "I'd like to see the programs laid out in front of us."
Berube also updated the board on the test of emergency communications with the district's new handheld two-way radios. He said that all the school came in "loud and clear," except for the sporadic signal from Mira Monte, which is hidden behind Krotona Hill. The devices worked fine on the school buses, he said. "We can communicate with our buses, wherever they are."
The meeting began with an appeal for action by two parents against an elementary school teacher, about the "irreversible damage done, not only to our daughter, but also to other students." They presented the board with a petition, police report, and letters of complaint from other parents.
The meeting ended with a preview of the busy agenda for the March 19 meeting, which will include updates and presentations on the budget, calendar issue, special education, and the progress of the stadium and track project at Nordhoff High School, which, through the diligence of teacher Mike Krumpschmidt and funded by a special wetlands grant, will fix the field's chronic drainage problems and restore the natural wetlands to adjacent Ojai Meadows Preserve.

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

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