From the Desk of the Superintendent

Superintendent Deborah A. Flores, Ph.D.

Friday, January 10, 2003

Preparing for the State’s Budget

The major challenge faced by both the Santa Barbara Elementary and High School Districts continues to be the budget. The combined budgets of both Districts is approximately $100 million. Our Districts, along with our colleagues from throughout the state, are closely following day-to-day developments in the state budget crisis. Analysts have projected an estimated deficit of more than $34 billion and pending cuts in education.

Two important actions will be taken during the month of January:

Governor Davis will release his proposed 2003-2004 budget on January 10, 2003. Our Districts’ will then begin the process of analyzing the proposal that is released that day. We anticipate that important information will be gained when our Districts’ representatives attend a workshop in Sacramento next week, where further discussions and analysis will take place. This is a fluid process because the document that is unveiled on January 10th reflects the Governor’s vision and the proposal is subject to change as it moves into the sphere of the Legislature.
By the end of the month, the Legislature will take action on proposed mid-year cuts. At this moment, it appears likely that there will be a reduction of categorical revenues by at least 3.66% and general revenue by 2.15% in the current (2002-2003) budget.

Educational analysts are advising districts that both of these actions will have a dramatic effect on our current year’s budgets and next year’s budgets.

In addition to the negative impacts of state budget cuts, at the local level we are still dealing with declining enrollment in the Elementary District, which has a direct impact on revenue. For each of the past three years, due to a number of factors, it has been necessary to make deep budget cuts. The Santa Barbara Elementary District serves approximately 6,000 students in grades K-6.

The High School District, which serves approximately 10,000 students in grades 7-12, is projected to begin declining in enrollment in the 2005-2006 school year. In anticipation, budget tightening is underway.

On December 9, 2002, following announcements of mid-year budget cuts, a spending freeze was put into effect in both of our districts. The spending freeze will remain in effect until the Governor Davis and the Legislature agree on the state’s course of action, which we expect will take place in mid-January.

This is a very unique situation. Once the state of the budget is known, a series of Board of Education meetings will be scheduled to review the impact of the state budget cuts and to develop a list of possible Districts budget cuts. This process will begin with Board budget workshops in February and March, dates to be determined.