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Schools

Sequoia District Preps For Financial Hardship

Board Members discuss possible parcel tax as means of addressing deficit.

In anticipation of the state legislature’s struggle to close the deficit, the Sequoia Union High School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday night discussed strategies to balance its own budget.

The district administration recommends cutting $1.7 million from its next year’s budget if state legislators approve of Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to shave $12 billion worth of services from the state’s budget, and voters support extending tax measures that are expected to raise the same amount.

Much of the district's budget is contingent upon the legislature's action, as Gov. Brown has efforted saving the state's kindgergarten through twelfth grade education fund from the chopping block.

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The district is facing a $3.8 million deficit next year, and is hoping to balance its budget by trimming spending and covering the rest of the gap by using a combination of $1.8 million in one-time Federal stimulus money and average daily attendance revenue.

But that is the best-case scenario, according to Asst. Superintendent Enrique Navas.

Should voters shoot down Gov. Brown’s tax measure proposal, or legislators decide not to approve the proposed service cuts, the district’s proposed cuts will increase by $2.8 to $4.5 million, according to a district report.

If state voters do not approve the tax extension, the district could face losing anywhere from $330 to $800 per student in average daily attendance revenue from the state, according to Navas.

And regardless of the district’s budget balancing tactics for 2011-2012, it still faces a structural deficit in the following years, as the board and administration strives to add money to its reserve funds.

Trustee Olivia Martinez suggested in light of the district being faced with years of potential debt combined with an uncertain economic climate, that board members and administration prepare for years of financial hardship.

“This is not a temporary storm, this is a climate shift, and we will never do business as we have before,” she said.

In an effort to cope with the district’s structural deficit, trustee Alan Sarver suggested the board investigate the possibility of asking local voters to approve a parcel tax, which would increase the district’s revenues.

Board president Lorraine Rumley said it could be difficult to sell voters on potentially supporting a parcel tax when the district has such a healthy reserve fund.

A district report shows the district currently has $13.39 million in total available reserves.

Rumley said she would be in favor of doing community polling to investigate potential voter support for a parcel tax.

That sentiment was echoed by trustee Don Gibson, who said that it was in the district’s best interest to begin the process of looking at parcel tax feasibility, because gaining necessary support can be a rigorous process.

The Redwood City School District, which feeds into the Sequoia Union High School District, is currently formulating plans to go forward on bringing a parcel tax to voters as well.

“We need to go to our different communities and campuses and see whether they would support moving ahead,” said Gibson. “We don’t know what the future holds, but we need to be in a good place.”

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