February 9, 2012 Mariposa County Unified School District Board Meeting - Possible School Closures (With Audio)

Last Updated on Sunday, 12 February 2012 12:27

February 9, 2012 Mariposa County Unified School District Board Meeting - Possible School Closures (With Audio)

The board heard Worst Case Scenarios. There is roughly a $2,500,000 deficit for next year and it looks like 36 people will get layoff notices. These Notices go out on March 15, but the final notices go out on May 15. The Worst Case Scenarios have the Middle School, the Spring Hill Campus, Coulterville High School and Yosemite Park High School closing. All the ideas that were presented to the board are just suggestions.

Audio is in minutes and seconds and the time is approximate.

(Press the Green Arrow to Play. Yellow Button is Pause and Red/Orange Button is Stop. Mouse over the Timeline Bar to advance or back up the Audio.)

0:00 Mariposa County Schools Superintendent Aaron Rosander mentions AB 1172 having to do with Charter Schools and what the bill would allow is that the school board could take into account the fiscal impact that a charter school has on a school district. It has passed through the Assembly and now onto the Senate. A charter can be denied if you close schools based on financial hardship. Also SB 81 has been passed and is on the Governors' desk.(The Governor has now signed it.) This bill removes the 50% cut to transportation for this year. The Governor still wants a 100% cut in transportation next year. For this year their will be a $41 ADA cut per student, costing the District around $100,000. Mr. Rosander also said that if the vote in November, to approve new taxes, does not pass it could cost the schools in the state $370 per student in ADA reduction. This is a very fluid situation and changes are being made all the time. If the voters do approve the new taxes the $370 ADA will pay back the deferrals that are already owed to the schools. This could take several years to pay back so schools will not be seeing any new revenue for several years. The school is down 140 students from the previous year and the district receives $5,200 per student adding up to a loss of $600,000. The kids are simply moving out of the county because of a lack of jobs for the parents.

7:45 The board has to make financial decisions without knowing if the voters are going to approve the taxes in November affecting the $370 ADA cut. So the board has to look at a worst case scenario. All deficits roll over year to year. Mr. Rosander mentions that a rumor that he has heard is that the district is projected to go bankrupt by October or November of next year. He states that is not true. He said there is a difference between cash flow and budget.
(Listen to Mr. Rosander back on November 17, 2011 as he mentions bankruptcy at a school board meeting).

12:15 Linda Levesque, Director of Business Services for the Mariposa County Unified School District presents a one page document on the budget. Two scenarios are discussed. With what the District knows right now (remember they keep getting different numbers out of Sacramento) the 2011-2012 unrestricted ending fund balance is projected to be $1,319,102. For 2012-2013 the unrestricted ending fund balance is projected to be -$1,771,547 including the Elimination or reduction of Home to School Transportation of $1,511,587 and another $17,577 for SDOI plus the loss of $37,510 with the failure of the tax initiative. For 2013-2014 the unrestricted ending fund balance is projected to be -$5,025,410 including the Elimination or reduction of Home to School Transportation of $1,511,587 and another $17,577 for SDOI plus the loss of $603,840 with the failure of the tax initiative. Cost saving measurers could reduce the negative numbers. Linda Levesque mentions how the state is looking at giving money back to the districts based on the English Learner Population and the Free and Reduced Lunch Population through a weighted program. This could work against the school district.

26:25 The State May Revise will adjust the budget numbers again. The district English Learner Population is under 50% and the Free and Reduced Lunch Population is between 55% - 60%.
33:45 Superintendent Rosander mentions to the board the way to reduce the negative numbers are by reducing the size of the district by downsizing. The board is presented with several scenarios with no recommendations. They are just possible cuts, just information only.

35:00 Linda Levesque talks about the difference between cash flow and budget. The state and federal revenue trickle in up to eighteen months behind schedule. On the Unified side of the District they could be in the red a negative $2,000,000 by December. Cash flow is a big issue. $1,200,000 is spent a month on salaries and benefits.

42:10 Linda Levesque talks about property tax revenue as there are more delinquencies and foreclosures in the county. Being in basic aid is mentioned along with declining enrollment.

46:05 Superintendent Rosander mentions the way to make reductions is through layoffs or fewer work hours. The layoff notices have to go out on March 15 and they will be based on their best projections that they have.

47:25 Tammi Richards, Director of Personnel & Risk Management for the Mariposa County Unified School District talks about the layoff process. March 15 will be preliminary layoffs, not final layoffs. She also mentions that the financial numbers are changing all the time and gives an overview of the finances. She said that as now there is a $2,400,000 deficit for next year and the board has to figure out how to eliminate that number on known variables. Possible things that can happen include the $370 dollar ADA if the voters approve the initiative ($630K). These are just suggestions. The three school busing funding issues are talked about (Mariposa County Unified School District Trigger Cuts and Transportation in the School District) to save money. The Late bus elimination saves $41,000. Other cuts could include Instruction Media, Food Service cuts to Lake Don Pedro, Library Aid reductions and Elementary Music.

1:01:00 The absolute worst case scenarios for the March 15 layoff notices of 27 FTE (FTE's are positions, not people) could mean losing the small necessary high schools including Coulterville High School and Yosemite Park High School, Cut alternative Ed Program (Spring Hill would be gone) and class loading sizes. This takes into consideration of closing the Middle School.
Total dollar amounts saved: $798,000 on K-8 and $1,400,000 7-12 Single Subject.

1:03:00 Revenue opportunities are: the new Charter School kicking in $100,000 and $75,000 for the following four years, negotiated furloughs $212,000, a benefits cap would equal $66,000, Negotiated Professional Development Days reduced from 4 to 1, a one time 10% salary reduction $1,400,000, Athletic Transportation $37,000, Negotiated Athletic Coaching Stipends $52,000, Other Stipends: Drama, Athletic Director and Choir equals $19,000. Other savings: Late Bus and other Stipends.
Total savings could be $2,500,000. Including the other bus route plans would make the savings: Plan B busing $3,000,000, Plan C busing $3,300,000.

1:08 Mariposa Middle School Closure: Three scenarios; K-7, 8-12 Model, K-8 Model and a 7-12 Model. The K-7, 8-12 Model would make MES and Woodland K-7 Schools equaling salaries and benefits savings of a little over $1,000,00. The K-8 Model would make MES and Woodland K-8 Schools saving $987,000 and the 7-12 Model would save $219,000.

1:12:00 Spring Hill Campus Closure would save $182,000 in salaries and benefits. Another scenario would save $262,000.

1:16:00 Coulterville High School Closure. These type of schools can be a cash cow but the district does not know if they are Basic Aid or Revenue Limit. If the school is Basic Aid they are not a cash cow. Two or three students and a teacher can provide over $100,000 to the district but under Basic Aid the district would get around $15,000 to operate the school. Savings would be $125,000.

1:18:00 Yosemite Park High School Closure. Same scenario as Coulterville. Savings would be $155,000. The district will not know if they are Basic Aid or Revenue Limit until sometime possibly in April, that is why the two high schools are listed.

1:20:00 Other Revenue Savings Ideas: TOT (Bed Tax) this is being looked at, asking the National Park Service or Delaware North Corporation to put an increase on the sales tax in Yosemite National Park. Both of these ideas would have to be voter approved. Selling School Property, School Bonds, No Overtime, Freeze Non-Essential Travel, Freeze and/or Re-Direct Spending, Prioritize what to spend money on, Maintenance and Grounds, Food Service, Library, Alternative Ed, Technology and other ideas. Other Ideas: Needing to get a handle on long term health and welfare benefits. Campus Supervision. Make Lake Don Pedro a K-12 (saving on busing), Four day school week (saving mainly transportation and food service costs), Charging for Home to School Transportation (Mariposa County is in the 1% percentile in the state for low income), Early Retirement Incentives, Job Share and other ideas.

1:29:45 There is roughly a $2,500,000 deficit for next year that will most likely happen. There will actually be 35 FTE layoff notices. Looks like 36 people will get these notices. These Notices go out on March 15, but the final notices go out on May 15.

1:35:00 A question is asked: What will Admin do to save money? Mr. Rosander said it has to be figured out.

1:40:00 The board would like to know how the parents and the teachers feel and would also like Community input. Maybe a committee could be formed. Don Pedro School has not grown like the district thought it would.

1:54:00 Under Public Discussion: Monty Thornburg mentions revenue increase through promotion of using the Mariposa County area and it’s history to promote valley schools (using District Learning Modules ) and then having the schools come up to the county for immersion in what the students are studying.

2:04:00 It is mentioned these are just ideas, nothing is in concrete.

The preliminary layoffs for March 15, will be on the Thursday, February 16, 2012 agenda.

A Special Board meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 6, 2012.

May 15, 2012 is when the final layoff notices will be sent out.