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School District creates culture of frugality |
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Friday, 17 July 2009 |
By Diane Eagle
Mammoth Times Editor
Budgets and the balancing of revenues and expenses are occupying number crunchers, board members and leaders in Mammoth, from the Mountain and the county to the hospital, Town and school district.
At the Mammoth Unified School District, balancing the budget for the new fiscal year is not the issue; where to look for further budget cuts should the state implement more slashes is keeping people up at night.
The school board held a follow-up budget workshop Tuesday night, when it revisited budget-cutting suggestions made by community members in June.
Superintendent Dr. Frank Romero responded to some 28 suggestions by prioritizing them according to level of feasibility and amount of savings represented.
Of those suggestions, made by parents, teachers and other community members, several will be implemented now, even though the school district budget is balanced for the 2009-10 fiscal year.
Romero believes starting now can begin to cut waste from expenses.
Thus, he is challenging the schools in the district to save 10 percent of their budgets to roll over to next year.
Additionally, electricity use will be monitored. People in the audience had creative ideas as to how to save money – from not turning on all lights, to reducing the exterior lights at night, to substituting energy-saving lightbulbs.
Teachers suggested how to save paper and be efficient with the use of paper – from parceling out specific quantities to recycling.
The school board will forgo their stipends, which results in a savings of $12,000 per year, and field trips will be eliminated, a savings of $8,200.
These frugality measures are partially symbolic, partially a beginning to facing hard times in the education systems all over the state of California. Funds coming to the school districts may be in jeopardy, and Romero said if and when that funding fails to materialize, budget cutting will hit the classroom. Extra-curricular activities, class-size reduction support and reduction of personnel will be on the chopping block.
On the positive side, Romero said, the parent organizations – Parent-Teacher-Organization, MSO and Boosters – will step in to provide help and service.
To look at the revenue side, a basic aid district such as Mammoth Unified gets its money from property taxes. With the County Assessor’s Office revaluing 5,000 properties downward, there will be a 20 - 40 percent decrease in property tax revenues available to the school district (see related story).
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Last Updated ( Friday, 24 July 2009 )
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