Record-high budget for school district Record-high budget for school district (March 18, 2005)

State funding changes boost spending $4 million
by Jeb Bing

The Pleasanton school district is preparing a record-high $121.5 million budget for the coming school year, $4 million above this year's budget and a welcome relief from spending cutbacks over the last several years because of lower state funding.

Sandra Lemmons, assistant superintendent, said Tuesday that the higher budget proposal is the result of funding changes for education in Sacramento that will provide Pleasanton with a 3.5 percent cost of living adjustment and more state aid based on an increased student enrollment here and other amenities, including a $500,000 boost in state payments for new instructional materials, which cost the school district between $1 million and $1.5 million each year.

An additional $980,000 could also be added to the budget if Gov. Schwarzenegger's plan to assess school districts for part of the teacher retirement system costs fails to pass. Lemmons believes that there is such strong opposition to the proposal from school district and teacher unions across the state that the governor's proposal is unlikely to be approved.

"There's good reason to believe that the plan won't go through, which means that we'll have nearly $1 million now allocated to cover that cost to spend on other needs," Lemmons said.

She said Pleasanton teachers had no salary increase two years ago and a 1 percent increase in the current school year. While not saying what any increase might total in the new fiscal 2005-06 school year, she pointed out that health care premiums, which teachers pay themselves, have skyrocketed.

"The fact is that many teachers have less take home pay now than they did three years ago," she said. "So that's been pretty tough."

Although no new facilities are planned in the coming year, Lemmons said the district will continue setting aside $600,000 for start-up costs if Neal Elementary School is built. That appropriation has been used in the last three years to fund programs since construction plans have been delayed.

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