OUSD Prepares For Deeper Cuts
Board awaits state budget numbers
By Misty Volaski
At Tuesday night’s Ojai Unified School District board meeting, superintendent Hank Bangser presented the 2010-2011 Preliminary Budget No. 2 to the board, with some unexpected but necessary increases in expenditures.
Dannielle Pusatere, OUSD assistant superintendent of business and administrative services, explained that the rates for the OUSD health plan increased 12 percent over last year. The district, said Bangser, has planned on 6 percent. OUSD was also not expecting six additional teachers to retire this year, meaning they needed to find additional funds to cover retirement-related costs. Those two expenditures alone totaled almost $200,000. Coupled with an almost 20 percent decrease in the amount of money the district gets per student per day, the district suddenly had a large chunk of money to make up.
To make up that difference, “We found almost $100,000 in projected savings,” said Bangser, “non-personnel savings.” But that still meant the loss of almost all the unappropriated funds. OUSD will take another look at the budget at the next meeting, and by law must have a budget ready by June 30. The state will almost certainly not have their budget ready by that time —- probably not till “July, August, or even September,” said Bangser. Once that budget comes in, OUSD may receive more bad news and have to create even more cuts.
One way OUSD is looking at reining things in would be to refuse acceptance of any new students. With class sizes nearing maximum capacity, he said, a few students transferring in to, say, third grade at San Antonio Elementary could force the district to hire additional teachers, something it cannot afford. “We will look at enrollment in August and see whether there are some openings.”
On a brighter note, the board announced that it is going forward with the re-roofing for Mira Monte Elementary School and Matilija Junior High. Funds for these projects have been categorized as deferred maintenance funds and will not hurt the proposed 2010-2011 budget.
The board also formally recognized this year’s OUSD retirees: Patricia Atkinson (11 years); Marty Babayco, (21 years); Linda Bell, (27 years); Karen Courington, (21 years); Cathy Maynard, (21 years); Joanne McFerron, (13 years); Nancy Roelle (four years); and Jule Wichman, (38 years).
After a short break for cake and mingling, the board jumped into a hot-button topic: the height of the fence that will surround the new Ojai Skate Park.
Said Bangser, “The 8-foot fence has been included in the plans since November, but only in the last few weeks has it become an issue.”
City manager Jere Kersnar, who attended the meeting, said the fence would be 8 feet high and made of tubular steel. Although it is expensive, around $45,000, Kersnar said it would be durable and not need much maintenance.
For now, he asked that the school board defer making a decision to either lower their height request or reaffirm their request for an 8-foot fence — at least until he and his staff could further research materials and similar parks.
However several community members offered alternatives and voiced frustrations with the proposed height. As a group, they praised the idea of the fence sliding open during park hours, but said an 8-foot fence is unnecessary.
People asked about lowering the height — “It would make them feel like caged animals” said Dusty Fernandez — and whether the savings from the lower fence could be put toward motion sensors and security cameras. “An 8-foot fence is a challenge, not a detractor,” said Stan Green. Deterrents — like security cameras — “are better than a barrier.”
The board agreed with Kersnar and decided to table the subject until the OUSD Skate Park Committee could learn more from Kersnar and staff.
I.D.OUSD,
I hope so! Get rid of all you racists…
“Alien invaders” –how cute– help declining enrollment and bring more money into the district
Nordhoff teachers and others will be forced to make up
grades and progress because of the illegal alien invasion from the south. It is a sorry situation all over California. Calderon will soon be our president.
The same is true for just about any other starting positions.
I know many teachers with the OUSD. I feel bad for them, I really do. But it’s nasty all over the place. I feel just as bad for co-workers who lost their jobs. I feel bad for myself because of the hit I took on my paycheck, too. Guess who pays for the teachers salaries. WE do, the ones out of work or have reduced salaries.
How about a little compassion for us.
You said she has been teaching a long time, but imply that teachers expect to make 70K-80K immediately. The reality is that starting salaries are closer to $30K – $40K, depending upon education.
anonymous
15 Jun 10 at 5:24 pm
My facts are precise. The sources is my daughter and her mother. Yes, she has been teaching a long time, and has continued education. So what? Taking courses that has nothing to do with her teaching 3rd graders and getting paid extra for it is absurd.
So I guess the point is if you are going into teaching, and as mentioned above by another poster, it is a career. Like with all career jobs, your pay goes up through time as you gain experience. To expect to make $70k-80k a year immediately is ridiculus, especially if teaching elementary school. Even with years of experience, that is too much for K-8. High school maybe, but not K-8.
“Yawn. Make the tests shorter or just make up grades if you don’t like grading the papers.”
High standards come with a price. Shortchanging students is not part of the approach that I support as an educator.
As a parent, I would be completely offended if a teacher made up a grade with no substance as a statement of my child’s effort and achievement in a class.
Either your facts are way off, or your daughter’s mother has been teaching for a VERY long time, as the median salary for elementary teachers in Riverside is $50K, and fewer than 5% earn more than $70K. I think she got a lot less than sympathy from you – maybe why you refer to her as “my daughter’s mother”.
My daughter’s mother teaches 3rd grade in Riverside and makes $80K a year, and moans that it’s not enough.
Crikey, I work 2 jobs. Sometimes I work 70-80 hours a week and still don’t make that much.
Sorry, very little sympathy from me.
Yawn. Make the tests shorter or just make up grades if you don’t like grading the papers.
Anon. 5 – You must not know any teachers in OUSD personally.
While we may be contracted for 8 hours a day and 175 to 184 days a year (varies now due to furloughs), most of us take home a TON of work to do after hours. Let’s take the case of a Nordhoff teacher whose class sizes used to be anywhere from 25 to 28 students during the 1990′s. Now those class sizes are around 35 to 40 students per class. Multiply that by 5 classes per day. It is like having an additional class of grading to do for no additional pay. Imagine grading 175+ essays on an ongoing basis. How about 175+ reading quizzes three times per week? You may not realize that our state standards require that we assess students in a multiplicity of ways including reading, writing and presentation of the spoken word.
I’d challenge anyone in the private sector to come and work in the public schools and then see if they think that we don’t work hard enough. Any public school worth anything is comprised of committed individuals who believe in the spirit and the purpose of public education.
By the way, many of us work second jobs during the two and a half months of summer to offset that we do not get paid 12 months a year (unless of course, we have our checks spread over 12 months by choice).
Don’t forget that many of us volunteer our time in our classrooms over the summer to prepare for the year given that we are paid for only one prep day prior to the school year. And yes – we do so willingly because we are professionals, committed to serving children to the best of our capacity.
Government employees and their ridiculous retirement packages will bankrupt the state!
C’mon, you work hard??? You work six hours a day and eight months a year. Why don’t you try the real world so you can get over yourself and realize you have it easy.
Teachers work hard!
> Welfare recipients don’t work
Yes, I think that was the point. Some government workers earn more pay/benefits than their peers in the private sector.
WELFARE RECIPIENTS???? What idiocy! Welfare recipients don’t work. Try educating tons of kids every year. Just go visit a school and you might learn something rather than making stupid remarks.
THE TAXPAYERS FUND YOUR RETIREMENT. GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES ARE GRATIFIED WELFARE RECIPIENTS.
So that is the point to be made. The teachers are funding their retirement with 8%, so how does this cost the district money when they retire?
Teachers do not contribute to, nor do we receive Social Security. Teachers contribute 8% of our income to State Teachers Retirement System. Additionally, I save money each month toward retirement. Most teachers know that we cannot expect to live solely on our retirement through STRS.
Regarding the comment on retirement costs, I am not familiar with the details of them but do consider that a veteran teacher makes a larger annual salary than a less experienced teacher and know that there will in the long term be a cost savings to the school district as a result of these retirements.
I do not get it. The OUSD pink slips a bunch of hard working teachers to save money and then when a few teachers retire it is going to cost the OUSD money. There is a disconnect here.
Public bureaucrats and their retirement packages out of touch with the free market will bankrupt the state.
Nancy Roelle came to Ojai after a full career in several other districts. She came here in part due to the passing of her son-in-law, to be a source of comfort and support for her daughter as well as her other children and grandchildren who live in the valley. In fact, she gave up her tenure and a substantial amount of her salary to come here.
Oldie Ojai – too bad to see you assume that tenure is what motivates teachers. You must not know Nancy at all. She is retiring at the top of her game, a most dedicated teacher who has worked tirelessly and professionally in her time at NHS. She is a total pro.
4 years at Nordhoff – more than 20 years teaching before that, as well as serving as a master teacher and teacher mentor.
Retiring after 4 years? How do you do that? Must be tenure…….
I just got back from San Diego. Ex-Sup. OUSD Tim Baird is doing great and would like to thank everybody here in
the Ojai Valley for the $2 million he got at the helm of
the OUSD during his 10 year reign. He said to come on
down to the Chart House On the Beach Del Mar for Happy
Hour. There are no cuts in San Diego! Check out his latest antics in the North County Times. Life is great on the border with Mexico.
What is the point of the fence? Is it to keep kids out or keep them in? 6′ vs. 8′ vs. 4′ does it really matter? It seems most skate parks I have seen do not have a fence.