School schedules may be unpopular, but board says money trumps discomfort

June 27, 2008

Parents and students hoping to restore the old Orange County school schedules shouldn´t hold their breath.

There likely isn´t enough money to do it.

The seven School Board members remained divided on the issue Thursday as they reviewed new budget figures.

District staff told them that there´s even less money now than in May, when the board decided to flip middle- and high-school bell schedules starting this fall. The transportation department pitched the schedule switch to streamline bus routes and save $6 million next year.

No formal vote was taken Thursday. But the four members who supported the change -- Anne Geiger, Vice Chairwoman Joie Cadle, Kat Gordon and Daryl Flynn -- indicated they won´t change their minds. The three opponents -- Chairwoman Karen Ardaman, Jim Martin and Rich Roach -- said they wouldn´t budge, either.

Scores of parents and students came to the meeting in hopes the board would change its mind on the schedule switch. They were not happy.

Superintendent Ron Blocker came to the board Thursday with information on other options but declined to recommend what to do.

“Whatever we do now, we´ll be doing more later and making unpopular choices,” he warned.

The Governor´s Office this week announced it would hold back 4 percent of revenue from state departments this year, creating a domino effect that translates to $22 million to $24 million for Orange County´s public-school district. The cuts come on top of the $70 million that district staff expected to slice by the end of next year.

“We´re in a little bit of a volatile environment,” Chief Financial Officer Rick Collins said.

Ardaman hoped to use district reserve funds to restore the school schedule this year.

Collins and other financial advisers said that among other worries, tapping into reserves would affect the district´s borrowing status, and it would be difficult to replace the funds, as the state requires, later on.

The district´s staff presented 43 ideas submitted by the public to cut the budget in other ways. The ideas included eliminating middle-school sports, making parents pay for Advanced Placement tests, and re-evaluating the outsourced substitute-teacher contract.

Many ideas were dismissed, but several, including reviewing the substitute contract, will be considered later, staffers said.

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