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Uploaded: Thursday, November 1, 2012, 7:39 AM
Updated: Sunday, November 4, 2012, 8:28 AM
Pleasanton school district awaits Tuesday's election results to learn about funding
Two competing ballot measures could mean future cash or new cuts
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by Glenn Wohltmann
Pleasanton Weekly Staff
The Pleasanton school district is ready for the potential loss of $7 million in state funding should both funding proposals on next week's ballot fail.
Both Gov. Jerry Brown's Proposition 30 and a competing measure, Prop 38, known as "Our Children, Our Future," proposed by Molly Munger, would boost state funding to schools.
The district already slashed its budget by the $7 million it would lose if Brown's proposal fails, Luz Cazares, assistant superintendent of business services, told the school board it its last meeting.
"We are prepared for that," Cazares said.
While the district is prepared for this year, Board President Joan Laursen said the loss of that money would be ongoing. She said the same $7 million would have to be cut from the district's budget every year in the future, like the cuts that the district has already seen.
"We'd have to have a plan for next year," Laursen said.
It could also mean some short-term borrowing for the district as payments from the state are shifted again from the end of one fiscal year, in June, to the next fiscal year, which begins in July.
Prop 38 would provide extra revenues for the district in the 2013-14 school year, leaving school districts across the state to struggle through another lean year before they get the new funds.
Should both Prop 30 and Prop 38 pass, the measure with the largest number of votes would win, and school board members have been urging voters to opt for both measures in the hope that one will gain the simple majority needed to pass.
Cazares said the district also could lose about 8.2% of its federal funding, largely earmarked for special education.
That comes to about $288,000 a year, although Cazares said districts across the country have been told to plan on getting the funding reauthorized by Congress.
School district officials will learn more about the state funding situation next month.
By the next board meeting, on Nov. 13, the ballot measures will have either passed or failed; the district is also awaiting a report from the state Legislative Analysts Office about revenue projections, which is expected in the middle of November.
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Posted by William Tell, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Nov 1, 2012 at 8:20 am They're not going to pass. Better get ready to slash. We ought to be asking Jerry Brown and the majority Democrat legislature why prison guard salaries, prison costs, benefits for illegal aliens and state employee pensions never get cut, but school funding is always first on the chopping block.
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Posted by Arroyo Lass, a resident of the Avignon neighborhood, on Nov 1, 2012 at 8:44 am Who cares as long as they don't pass I'll not have to fork over more money to the incompitents.
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Posted by Larry, a resident of Livermore, on Nov 1, 2012 at 9:49 am I agree they will not pass. Which means the schools will not be getting money they were not scheduled to get anyway. So they better hunker down and figure out what to do, maybe cut pensions and increase class sizes.
It's funny, my income went down, the government didn't come in and help me pay for gas, make my car payment, or help with my house payment did they. I had to hunker down and cut every expense that didn't pass muster. That is what the schools have to do, and they should get used to it. We don't have any extra money to help them, we are tapped out. Both props deserve a shellacking so it is understood they have a long road ahead without being bailed out by the taxpayers. Maybe they should cancel the 8 billion dollar choo choo train that isn't needed or wanted. Use that money for the schools. Plus take the empty buses off the road, that would give some extra money. Before asking for more money, you have to have a plan to cut costs.
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Posted by Don, a member of the Fairlands Elementary School community, on Nov 1, 2012 at 4:16 pm Hey, all you guys,
The school district has already cut their budgets, planning for the measures not to pass. Why are you ranting about hunkering down, when they have already?
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Posted by No more !, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Nov 1, 2012 at 11:27 pm William Told it very well. Brown had his chance to make changes to CURRENT unions, like prison guards, prisons, illegal benefits, pensions, etc. etc. PRIORITIES.So they toyed with the edges, making changes for 30 yrs from now. Guess you need to let the Governor, lousy Dem Legislature,& Unions know what you think. THey always get theirs, and threaten schools.. They steal from our highway propositions to keep their list above going, just keep feeding the beast. We're through. They just cowardly threaten the VISIBLE....schools !!
They are addicts ! Like other addicts, they have to hit bottom to get the messsage. So be it. We'll send the message. They get enough and I've had enough ! NO more.
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Posted by Daniel Bradford, a member of the Foothill High School community, on Nov 2, 2012 at 9:16 am Actually, Prop 30 has a decent chance of passing. Prop 38 has none.
"The latest Field Poll, which was released Thursday, shows 48 percent of a sample of likely voters in favor of the measure, 38 percent against and 14 percent undecided."
If only 20% of the undecideds swing in favor of Prop 30, it will pass (by the barest of margins). So those of you claiming it will fail are betting that more than 80% of the undecideds will swing against Prop 30. That would be extraordinary, since historically undecideds split 60-40 against/for propositions.
I have been campaigning for Prop 30 to pass, because if it doesn't, public education at all levels will be wrecked in California. But I won't waste my time arguing with people hiding behind pseudonyms whose opinions are informed by right-wing ideology and not an analysis of the data.
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Posted by Hmmm, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Nov 2, 2012 at 9:58 am Actually you do spend quite a bit of time arguing with people on this board.
It is telling that you do not support 38, when the folks who support 38 are saying vote for both. Is that because 38 will only support education at a very local level and supports more teachers in the classroom, but not higher salaries, which the union doesn't like? Interesting. This measure would provide tremendous funding for the kids, who are supposed to be the focus of our educational system, right??
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Posted by Daniel Bradford, a member of the Foothill High School community, on Nov 2, 2012 at 5:42 pm Show me a driver's license that lists your name as "Hmmm" and then we can have a dialogue.
Or better yet, a birth certificate!
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Posted by Hmmm, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Nov 3, 2012 at 2:34 pm I have zero interest in a dialogue with you Daniel.
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Posted by Who do they interview?, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Nov 3, 2012 at 3:24 pm ""The latest Field Poll, which was released Thursday, shows 48 percent of a sample of likely voters in favor of the measure, 38 percent against and 14 percent undecided.""
My spouse was called about this issue, he was undecided. He thought the money would go to colleges (universities); once he found out that is not the case, he decided to vote no.
Whose poll is this anyway? And who do they interview? We have received calls on pretty much every issue, how do they decide who to call? And how reliable is this? (interviewing 1000 people is not that scientific)
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