Santa Cruz City Schools Superintendent Gary Bloom is very proud of the way the city’s school district has managed to keep its budget in check. Not one of the district’s 425 teachers will be getting a pink slip this year, and there is even money in the reserve fund.
Santa Cruz City Schools Superintendent Gary Bloom is very proud of the way the city’s school district has managed to keep its budget in check. Not one of the district’s 425 teachers will be getting a pink slip this year, and there is even money in the reserve fund.
Other school districts are less fortunate, with Gilroy struggling to cover a $7.2 million deficit. It is the same amount that Pajaro Valley had to cover, and they just sent out 200 pink slips, including slips for 150 teachers. Both Scotts Valley Unified and Live Oak are also expected to let teachers go by the March 15 deadline.
Santa Cruz’s success in avoiding pink slips came at a cost, however. Adult education in the city has been decimated, after it was decided that children should take precedence. Furhermore, even the reserves are only enough to last the city for three years. After that, the threat of layoffs will loom large again, unless there is more revenue.
The problem is that there might actually be less. The state plans to hold a special election in June to decide whether to extend tax increases to benefit education. Current budgets are based on the assumption that the extension of taxes will pass. If it does not, school districts throughout the county will find themselves facing even more cuts in the coming year. Read more at Santa Cruz Sentinel and KION.
