CUSD Update

In December the CUSD board restored two furlough days and in January adjusted the teachers’ pay reduction from 10.1 percent to 6.49 percent. These changes followed an adjustment in the adopted state budget, with CUSD receiving $13.5 million more than anticipated. In accordance with an agreement with the teachers union (Capistrano Unified Education Association) last spring, any restored funds first went to restoring instructional days and salaries. As reported in the Feb. 27 OC Register, county and state financial advisors said the timing of restoring pay and furlough days is bad with the district facing more cuts. http://www.ocregister.com/news/-109857-ocprint--.html

The school board will hold a special meeting to discuss the budget on Mar. 8, 6 p.m., at the district headquarters, 33122 Valle Road, San Juan Capistrano.

The district is ready to cut 347 temporary certificated CUSD employees to make ends meet. From the Feb. 17 Capistrano Dispatch, “District officials must plan their budget even before the state spending plan is in place. Statewide, school officials are working on two scenarios: If the Governor’s proposal to extend certain taxes moves forward, CUSD will see what Superintendent Joseph Farley calls ‘relatively minor’ cuts of $1 million. But if the tax-extension plan is rejected, CUSD cuts are expected to hit $17.5 million.”
http://capistranoinsider.typepad.com/beyond_the_blackboard

A reader nailed it with a reaction. The following post was added to the Feb. 17 Dispatch article: “If we can't live within our means, then we need to examine what is essential to education and go back to that. Superintendents have been told by Brown to propose extreme cuts to services to scare us into voting for taxes. Instead, let's go back to basics - English, math, science, history, foreign language, P.E., and maybe an art class or two. Cut everything else and rebuild it as we recover. Such luxuries as counselors, music programs, athletics, ASB, photography, Peer Advisement, Newspaper, etc., are expendable in dire times. … In fact, this is a time for us to redesign our schools instead of looking for any easy (i.e., tax) fix. Our government is addicted to taxes. Should we enable them? With your vote, ‘just say no’ to taxes.”