Belmont Redwood Shores School District (BRSSD) officials held a budget workshop on April 14, inviting the public to learn about the district’s finances and contribute ideas for spending priorities.  Here School-Force summarizes the meeting, and developments since then, for parents who could not attend. Handouts can be found on the BRSSD website.

The good news:

• The District will use one-time federal money received last fall ($550,000) to save teachers’  jobs for 2011-12.
• The School Board voted on April 14th to reduce K-3 class sizes from 29:1 to 28:1 and rescinded all nine teacher pink slips.  On May 5th they started the process to hire new teachers using School-Force funds ($350,000), which will bring class sizes down to 25:1.
• School-Force has raised the $750,000 which was already built into the budget to help fund Reading Specialists, Science Specialists, 4th and 5th grade instrumental and choral music, full-time Ralston Dean, Ralston Athletic Program and part-time support for the Ralston Counselor and for the Library Media Services districtwide.  So these services are being planned for the next school year.
• Because the District has been thrifty in recent years, it is able to use some reserve funds in 2011-12, which has been expected to be a particularly difficult fiscal year.
• The passage of the Measures I and N bonds has freed some additional funds which otherwise would have been needed for Routine Repair and Maintenance.
• An independent review committee of parents and others has scrutinized the district budget to identify additional savings and has confirmed that the district is being fiscally responsible.

The bad news:

• Enrollment is rising more than revenues, thus there is a decrease in the amount of money available per student.
• The state will be taking back $1.6 million, or almost all the money it gives the District.  Hence, the BRSSD will be almost entirely self-funded through local property taxes, parcel taxes, bond income, and School-Force donations.
• Costs for unfunded mandates, primarily special education, are increasing while revenue is not.
• The district will be using reserves, and thus will be running in the red.
• Class sizes of 25:1 in the lower grades are still larger than they were as recently as 2009-10, when they were 20:1.
• Elementary school libraries are only open every other week.
• Technology is severely out of date and extremely under-supported.
• Split-grade classes have no classroom aides (para-educators).
• Four furlough days are currently scheduled for the 2011-2012 year.  (The current calendar indicates a school year of 180 days, but four of those are furlough days.)

Overall, The BRSSD is in a much better position than many districts in California. A primary reason for this is the District’s Basic Aid status.  Most districts (Revenue Limit Districts) may be facing cuts of as much as $764 dollars per student.  (In the BRSSD this would have been over $2.1 Million.) However, at this time, the State cannot take the local property taxes which are the primary funding for the BRSSD.  It can only take back money that it provided to the district in the first place.

However, the District lacks many basic services that used to be available to our children.

School-Force needs your help to:

1. Fund the items parents took for granted just a few years ago, such as:
   —–> Technology support and upgrades ($150,000)
   —–> Full-time libraries ($120,000)
   —–> Aides (para-educators)  in split-grade classrooms ($100,000)
   —–> 180 –day school year ($400,000)
2. Meet or exceed the $1.6 million the community raised a year ago.
3. Keep up with the neighbors.  San Carlos Ed Foundation is on track to raise $2 million.  School-Force can do this as well if everyone gives what they can.

What YOU can do:

1. Donate as close as you can to the suggested $1200 per student amount (or more if you can afford it!). Funds received by June 30^th will be applied to the 2011-12 school year.
2. Donate your time: School-Force is a completely volunteer-run organization and needs more manpower and expertise.  Please contact president@schoolforce.org if you have time or skills to offer.