OUSD Braces For Mid-year Cuts
Cuts to bus routes, instructional days spark debates
By Sondra Murphy
Ojai Unified School District board members met Tuesday looking relaxed after the always-hectic start of another school year was behind them and the hard choices of upcoming budget cuts would wait until next month.
“I think I can say by mid-September the rhythms of the schools are up and running,” said superintendent Hank Bangser. “Now I think education is unfolding.”
Dannielle Pusatere, assistant superintendent of business and administrative services, submitted a summary update to the board before they consider in detail cuts needed in October. New figures suggest the district may have $250,000 in available funds above the mandatory 3 percent reserve this school year.
Given the erratic nature of California budget politics, Pusatere’s calculations are based on estimates. She listed receivables of $1,050,000 from state fiscal stabilization funds, from federal monies, and an increase in the general fund balance for 2008-2009 of $50,000, minus a one-time revenue limit reduction of $250 per ADA of $750,000 and $100,000 in staffing changes for 2009-2010, that being additional teachers, to come up with the quarter of a million dollar figure.
Spreading that amount among the eight schools and countless programs within the district is never a simple task when balanced against regulations and spending restrictions.
Pusatere further related that a 20-percent loss of transportation revenue will take another $105,000 away from OUSD and the potential for state midyear budget cuts were again an unknown and looming threat to the district that has experienced dire financial losses for a decade due to declining enrollment and gradual to drastic economic crises.
President Linda Taylor asked when the district might know what the midyear cuts are.
“In my experience, the state will give us a hint that something’s wrong in December and they need to have a special session,” said Pusatere. “We typically don’t’ know what they are until January.”
Clerk Rikki Horne asked if the $250,000 could be used to get back the instructional days forfeited by the Ojai Federation of Teachers as negotiated earlier this summer to help balance the budget. When OUSD passed its $23.87 million budget in June, the union agreed to accept a contract with five fewer work days, but leaving the number adjustable if funds were made available later by the state.
Pusatere said the language of the agreement said, “If the state took instructional days, we would take instructional days,” so changes were dependent on the state and added that the district may end up with no excess.
“So you’re really planning on having zero?” asked Bangser. “Zero is really low.”
“Welcome to our world,” said Vice President Kathi Smith. She and the board agreed that, if any excess beyond the reserve was received, “I think we should give all our efforts to give back those days.”
Bangser told the board that administrative recommendations would be ready for them to consider at the next meeting of the board. “This period of time from Sept. 1 to Oct. 6 is information gathering and when you receive my final recommendation, you’ll see the persuasive position we want you to take,” he said. “Maybe you’ll vote on it or want to go back and look at it some more.”
A few speakers addressed the board regarding transportation. Cindy Sloan, an OUSD bus driver and certified bus driver trainer, read from accident statistics to show that bus transportation was safer than walking, biking or driving to school. She requested that the board consider it in their decision when looking at cuts to service routes that have already been condensed in earlier rounds of budget hits.
Smith thanked her for the data. “If you had not brought it to us, it might have gone under the radar,” she said.
Bangser said he planned to spend yesterday visiting all the school sites again and will be at the Nordhoff High School football game tonight. He was also invited to the Nordhoff Parent Association on Monday and will be there to speak to the members. That meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Nordhoff Library.
NPA membership forms were included in student packets at the beginning of the year. They may also be obtained from the NHS administration office or at the library during the meeting.
Why does the relatively small Ojai School District needs an Assistant Superintendent with a salary close to the Superintendent? (By not mistaken, 3 Administrative Assistant under the Superintendent would do the job for the same ‘price’ and bring 2 more jobs back to town).
According to public records, the Assistant Superintendent does not meet the academic qualifications for this position.
Is there a better example of corruption within a School Board possible? … just curious …
Nicolaus Sommer
18 Sep 09 at 1:18 pm
What is it exactly (specifically) that the Superintendent does anyway, and after disclosing that, the what exactly does he need a extremely high paid assistant for (that a mid level staff person could not do)?
Ojai Bored
18 Sep 09 at 3:11 pm
Maybe it is just me, but does the new supt. have a clue. “Zero is really low”, is the quote from Mr. Bangser regarding the budget cuts. Did the board forget to tell him during the interview process what kind of mess OUSD is in?
anonymous
18 Sep 09 at 5:21 pm
Ojai absolutely does not need that overpriced assistant superintendent and the school board has shamelessly been spending 10s of thousands of dollars for YEARS hiring ‘head hunters’ to find even more high-priced superintendents. Headhunters are in the ‘turn over’ business; they need to keep their stable of executives on the move. That’s how they stay in business. The latest superintendent gets a whopping 170k while teachers (who are all over worked) had to take a pay cut. And, how is it that a federally funding reading intervention was cut? Get rid of the whole lot of ‘em, I say.
Anonymous 2
18 Sep 09 at 10:39 pm
Who votes on those superintendent and assistant superintendent salaries? Everywhere I’ve ever lived, it was the school board.
I say, kick ‘em all out, and get back to spending that money on instruction.
Down with wasteful spending
19 Sep 09 at 2:42 pm
The buck stops with the School Board. It has taken you people a long time to figure it out. So recall the current board and start anew.
anonymous
19 Sep 09 at 6:07 pm
From Wikipedia:
“Generally, public school district superintendents are selected by a school board of a local school district. As chief executive officer of the public school, the superintendent has oversight for what is often one of the larger businesses within the community the district serves. They are typically given overall responsibility for personnel selection and appointment, preparation of operating budgets, and implementation of school policies and regulations. Ideally, the school superintendent will be knowledgeable in areas of school law, school finance and investment strategies, school construction, technology, curriculum and teaching and learning styles and methods, team-building, and skill at seeing “the big picture”, able to pull many smaller elements to a cohesive and productive whole.”
With all the legal and curricular concerns a superintendent oversees, one could view having an Asst. Sup. keeping track of the financial complexities as a benefit instead of a straw-grasping “example” of corruption.
But who needs superintendents when there are so many brilliant minds here who could step into the job? And at a reduced rate!
If the people commenting here were truly interested in how public school finance works, they would already know that school district funds aren’t all dumped into one big pot to be spent at the whims of the board. There are laws about how funds shall be spent.
Are teachers underpaid? Absolutely. Did OUSD create this inequity? Hardly.
None of you generic board bashers will ever take the initiative to recall anyone and you all know it. Blah blah blog.
Yes, Anon. 5:21, it’s just you. The comment was humor, something some people find helpful to employ when encountering undesirable information.
Sondra Murphy
20 Sep 09 at 11:58 am
So I guess the school superintendent is just a
businessman?
Uncle Ernie
20 Sep 09 at 2:04 pm
Thank you Sondra for the Wiki information. Clearly from this information the Superintendent is not qualify for the position the board hired him for.
anonymous
20 Sep 09 at 2:21 pm
Generally, I feel like a moron in a town where the
editor of the newspaper and the school superintendent
run everything.
red shirt
20 Sep 09 at 3:35 pm
Why does the OVN continue to let Ms. Murphy write puff pieces about the OUSD? Would it be to much to ask for some tough journalism, and not a glowing review from a former OUSD employee?
anonymous
20 Sep 09 at 4:22 pm
I wrote it because I was available to cover the meeting.
Glowing review? Puff piece?
You caught me: I love OUSD and want to marry it.
Sondra Murphy
21 Sep 09 at 10:09 am
we really do need a better paper with more mature and objective journalism
anonymous
21 Sep 09 at 11:16 am
Please cite the lack of objectivity or maturity in the story.
Obviously, blog comments require neither, as anonymous criticism is rather inane.
Sondra Murphy
22 Sep 09 at 10:39 am
Sondra, things are very boring in Ojai right now. Could
you please spice up your story a little bit? We would
like to know what OUSD administrators are doing with all
that money their making? Golfing? Drinking? Hanging out
with the rich and famous on the weekends. Our schools
are broke and it is very interesting to see what the
OUSD administrators are doing with the hundreds of
thousands of dollars they make every month. Have you
seen them at the Inn or chamber of commerce meeting.
Please check out the North County Times (San Diego) to
see what ex-sup. Tim Baird is doing with his OUSD money.
Phil n Don
22 Sep 09 at 12:19 pm
Sondra, although tempting, please do not respond to comments about your article from the bloggers, it makes you look like an amateur instead of a professional.
anonymous
22 Sep 09 at 1:05 pm
the OVN is a fantastic small town paper with mature and objective journalism, and sondra is a top-notch writer. if you can do better, send a letter to the editor and SIGN YOUR NAME.
blame and complain
22 Sep 09 at 4:01 pm
I blame my parents for the mess that I am in.
Anon.5
22 Sep 09 at 4:45 pm
“blame and complain” hyperbole gets you no where. We know the limitation of the OVN and the writers are adequate and the news is friendly. “Top-notch” is reserved for the New York Times.
anonymous
23 Sep 09 at 7:54 am
Ojai is “friendly.” I get it. “Top-notch,” and “New York
Times?” I heard the editor of the OVN is from the Big
Apple. Maybe he’s just a ghost writer sitting in downtown Manhattan telling us what it be like? I heard
Bangster was a gangster from back east too. As far as I
know Bredigan and Banger never grew up here or attended
a local school. But they sure do seem to have a lot of
fun telling all the local yokels what it be like (“good
food and conversation”).
Brother Michael
23 Sep 09 at 10:11 am
We should hold a lynch mob over the budget cuts and burn effigies of Bangor for screwing it all up already. How can he already be behind budget cuts? Oh, I get it, he wants his salary while everyone suffers. School sucks. Nobody should go anyway. It never did nobody no good.
JUSTICE
23 Sep 09 at 9:01 pm
What a stupid remark about the new superintendent. He inherited this problem.
Parent
24 Sep 09 at 12:09 pm
Unfortunatley I fear Bangser is now part of the problem.
anonymous
24 Sep 09 at 1:07 pm
Oh yeah, Parent,
And you probably still blame George Bush for the economy!!
JUSTICE
24 Sep 09 at 1:52 pm
Of course Bush is responsible for the sad state of the country today.
Parent
29 Sep 09 at 7:02 pm
Does not matter who is to blame for the problems of the OUSD. The question is do we now have the right people to fix the problem and move forward. As an aside has anyone noticed that the new supt. does not go to any meetings without D. Pustere right next to him?
anonymous
30 Sep 09 at 7:55 am
Maybe because she wears the pants at the district.
Anonymous
8 Dec 09 at 9:20 pm
The Superintendent’s past, present and future Superintendent will not go to a meeting without D. Pusatere – Asst. Superintendent by his side because she runs the district. They keep her because the Superintendents don’t know squat about budgets and need her to answer the school board and public’s questions. Her position is overpaid, and her management skills with personnel are nil. Her style is too bully, and to pit employees against each other. The turnover over the years in the Business Office is exceptionally high. The employees either quit and look for jobs elsewhere or apply for other jobs out at the school sites. They should of eliminated D. Pusatere’s – Asst. Superintendent title years ago and reclassified it back to an accountant position just as it was when she first began working for the district. Unfortunately, the Administration has never consisted of the most talented people hence the need to being top heavy to try and make up for their deficiencies. The school board will never catch on because they don’t work there on a day to day basis so they’ll never really have the full picture – only what’s spoon fed to them by D. Pusatere.
Helen
19 Jan 10 at 8:27 pm
Helen sounds bitter. Perhaps an ex OUSD employee who was held accountable by Ms. Pusatere for not doing her job well? Hmmmmm…
Anon Me
20 Jan 10 at 3:25 pm
CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE 9 EDUCATION
SEC. 2. A Superintendent of Public Instruction shall be elected by
the qualified electors of the State at each gubernatorial election.
The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall enter upon the duties
of the office on the first Monday after the first day of January next
succeeding each gubernatorial election. No Superintendent of Public
Instruction may serve more than 2 terms.
CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE 9 EDUCATION
SEC. 2.1. The State Board of Education, on nomination of the
Superintendent of Public Instruction, shall appoint one Deputy
Superintendent of Public Instruction and three Associate
Superintendents of Public Instruction who shall be exempt from state
civil service and whose terms of office shall be four years.
This section shall not be construed as prohibiting the
appointment, in accordance with law, of additional Associate
Superintendents of Public Instruction subject to state civil service.
CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE 9 EDUCATION
SEC. 3. A Superintendent of Schools for each county may be elected
by the qualified electors thereof at each gubernatorial election or
may be appointed by the county board of education, and the manner of
the selection shall be determined by a majority vote of the electors
of the county voting on the question; provided, that two or more
counties may, by an election conducted pursuant to Section 3.2 of
this article, unite for the purpose of electing or appointing one
joint superintendent for the counties so uniting.
CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE 9 EDUCATION
SEC. 3.1. (a) Notwithstanding any provision of this Constitution to
the contrary, the Legislature shall prescribe the qualifications
required of county superintendents of schools, and for these purposes
shall classify the several counties in the State.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of this Constitution to the
contrary, the county board of education or joint county board of
education, as the case may be, shall fix the salary of the county
superintendent of schools or the joint county superintendent of
schools, respectively.
CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE 9 EDUCATION
SEC. 3.2. Notwithstanding any provision of this Constitution to the
contrary, any two or more chartered counties, or nonchartered
counties, or any combination thereof, may, by a majority vote of the
electors of each such county voting on the proposition at an election
called for that purpose in each such county, establish one joint
board of education and one joint county superintendent of schools for
the counties so uniting. A joint county board of education and a
joint county superintendent of schools shall be governed by the
general statutes and shall not be governed by the provisions of any
county charter.
whatever
20 Jan 10 at 3:58 pm