Possible $1.2 million in school budget cuts?

The Ross Valley School District board had to consider the unthinkable on Tuesday night – what programs would be cut if they faced a $1.2 million budget shortfall. Almost every program in the district would deal with some cuts.

Thankfully, that $1.2 million may just be a worst-case scenario.

"It's probably not going to be the reality," said Sharon Sagar, school board president.

When the district submitted its three-year budget proposal to the Marin County Board of Education, cuts were avoided for the 2010-11 school year, but $700,000 would have to be cut in 2011-12 and 2012-13. With state budget cuts and lower property taxes, the district has to make plans for its decreasing revenue. The projections were based on a 2.4 percent cost of living adjustment - as is standard.

The county board of education, however, decided that instead of using a standard cost of living adjustment, the district should assume the worst. The board sent the proposed three-year budget back to the district and asked them to create a plan as if the cost of living increase was zero.

That change increased the projected cuts to $1.2 million by the 2012-13 school year. The district's annual budget is $17 million.

"If this financial picture doesn't turn around, we're all going to be cut to the bone," said Sagar.

The district went through an extensive community budgeting process in 2008 and 2009, when $1.2 million was cut during 2008-09 and 2009-10. A large committee of school staff, board members, parents, and community members designated core subjects and programs and then asked the community to rank supplemental programs in terms of priority.

When looking ahead at where another $1.2 million might come from, the logical place to start was with that prioritization survey.

Should the district have to follow through with the $1.2 million in cuts it identified as possible on Tuesday night, most everything on the list would face some cuts, from libraries, counseling, art, supplies and more. One area the community rated as its most important priority – and the one the board attempted to leave untouched – was class-size reduction.

A new community budgeting process starts this fall, though, giving parents, teachers and residents a chance to consider what they would want to do in the worst-case scenario.

For now, as the school year gears up to start on Aug. 23, the budget isn't as bad as it could be. After those extensive cuts in 2008-09 and 2009-10, the district had a buffer of money left in order to avoid making cuts this year.

"We didn't find it necessary to cut more when we had money left over from our prior cuts," said Sagar.

The leftover money runs out by next year and then more cuts will have to be made.