FMEA

FMSD BUDGET CUTS

Our Superintendent and School Board have spent much of the last few months finding a way to cut nearly $4 million from the district's budget. Though the state may eventually fund education at current or even higher levels, the district is preparing for the devastating cuts that our Governor has proposed.

After a long series of regular and special budget workshops that included feedback from many in the community, the decision was finalized. On April 22^nd the board unanimously approved the proposed cuts. The final package of cuts was much different than earlier proposals. In the end the district cut $3.9 million by making a number of changes:

· Over 148 employees had their hours reduced. The vast majority of these are 8 hour classified employees who had their hours reduced to 7½.

· 29 positions were eliminated. Certificated positions eliminated include librarian, independent studies teacher, and six TOSA positions.

· $900,000 that had been reserved for employee compensation (in other words money for raises!) was cut.

· Operating budgets of many District Service Center departments were reduced by 15%

· School site's "A" budgets were reduced by 10%

· There were also numerous "funding shifts." Hundreds of thousands of dollars were "saved" by using categorical money to fund things that had previously been funded out of unrestricted dollars.

In the end, Certificated, Classified and Management all faced cuts, though without a doubt our Classified colleagues took the hardest hit. Let's hope that when the dust settles, and California's 2008/2009 budget is finally completed, the money is restored so that all employees can be compensated fairly for the work they do.