Other cuts are on the table but for now, Franklin is safe
By Terry Miller
At Tuesday night’s special Pasadena Unified School District (PUSD) meeting to discuss the deficit, Board members got an earful from concerned Franklin teachers and parents who, like their signs read, pointed out in no uncertain terms that ‘Franklin teachers do more with less’ and that the PUSD administration ‘does less with more.’
Speaker after speaker echoed that sentiment during public comment.
According to PUSD, the “target” is to increase the 2020-21 Ending Fund Balance Projection by $10.1 million to obtain a 3 percent reserve. “This can be accomplished through a combination of revenue increases and/or expenditure decreases in the Fiscal Stability Plan. The PUSD Board of Education may make additional reductions to effectively increase more than the minimum 3 percent requirement to address the deficit spending pattern and/or set aside monies for other purposes.”
At a special meeting at PUSD HQ Tuesday night, residents voiced their considerable objections to the District’s latest attempts to save money.
The plan must be finalized on or before the Nov. 15 regular board meeting to be incorporated into the First Interim Report that will be presented at the Dec. 13, 2018, regular board meeting. If Measure J, the advisory sales tax measure, passes, it has the potential to provide approximately $7 million to the district. However, since the measure is “advisory,” these funds may not be included in the Fiscal Stability Plan until there is a vote of the City Council confirming the funds will be allocated to the District. This vote would need to occur prior to the Dec. 13, 2018, Board of Education meeting to be considered in the Fiscal Stabilization Plan.
The Board of Education has the responsibility to ensure that the District remains fiscally viable and adheres to the State’s requirement of a 3 percent reserve in the current year and two subsequent years. The L.A. County Office of Education has stated they are “prepared to elevate the Fiscal Expert to a Fiscal Advisor with stay and rescind authority.” If this were to occur, the Board would no longer retain its decision-making.
