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Dear Friends,
The adoption today of revisions the the 2009-10 state budget presented in February, will provide our district with valuable information specific to our developed and adopted budget for 2009-10.
Our budget, just like all other California school districts, built the 2009-10 budget on a set of assumptions. As we receive the actual specifics of what has been approved by the legislature, we will be able to review the impacts to our district budgets.
It is my sense that our budget assumptions closely reflect the approved state budget. I do not believe "new" monies will be coming our direction.
I look forward to reviewing the many details of the actions taken by the legislature, and how they impact San Rafael City Schools.
Having this information before the beginning of the school year for students, provides us some time to make any necessary adjustments. As we know more, we will quickly distribute it to staff, parents, and members of our community.
Mike
Michael Watenpaugh, Ed.D.
Superintendent
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A State Budget...Finally!
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The State Budget
The Devil Will Be in the Details
For most of the past 24 hours, the Senate and the Assembly have been working to finalize the 2009-10 state budget.Hours of floor sessions and almost 30 bills
later, the revisions to the February
budget were approved to close a reported $24 billion deficit.
Even though an
agreement was reached earlier in the week, each house struggled to pass
the various budget bills. It appeared throughout the night and early
morning sessions that every bill possessed items that made members
reluctant to vote for the budget. This included legislation to pay the
maintenance factor, changes to In-Home Support Services, changes to
CalWorks and cuts to corrections. As was stated many times on both the
Senate Floor and the Assembly Floor, "there is something in this budget
for everyone to hate."
While the Senate finished just before dawn on Friday, the Assembly
still failed to pass the budget package until this afternoon (June 24, 2009).
The overall package includes $24.1 billion in solutions
includes cuts, borrowing and fund shifts. Further, the budget
establishes a reserve of $921 million. The
solutions include:
- $15.3 billion in program cuts
- $4 billion in revenue accelerations and fees
- $3.6 billion in borrowing (mainly from Prop. 1A local government funds and the Highway User Tax)
- $1.2 billion in deferring state employee pay from June 30, 2009 to July 1, 2010
The $15.3 billion in programmatic cuts are summarized as follows:
- $5.7 billion K-14 Education
- $2.8 billion Higher Education
- $1.2 billion Human Services
- $2.0 billion Health
- $2.0 billion Transportation
- $0.5 billion Resources
- $1.1 billion Public Safety
Education Budget
The Proposition 98 guarantee is funded at $49.1 billion for the
2008-09 fiscal year and approximately $50.4 billion for the 2009-10
fiscal year. The budget makes approximately $6 billion in cuts as
follows:
- $1.6 billion in "unallocated" categorical programs for 2008-09
- $2.6 billion in 2009-10
- $1.7 billion in deferrals to 2010-11
The $2.6 billion reduction
is an across-the-board cut to school district revenue limits. In
addition, the budget includes the use of $450 million of federal School
Improvement Grant funds to backfill the General Fund reduction to the
Quality Education and Investment Act (QEIA).
What Does This Really Mean for San Rafael City Schools?
The exact bill language was made available just this morning. It is these details that will outline what the true impact will be our our District. We hope to learn more after the weekend.
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Agenda Online
Board of Education Meeting
Monday, July 27, 2009, 6:00 p.m.
The regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Education is Monday, July 27, 2009. The Open Session of the meeting will begin at 6:00 pm. To review, and/or download the agenda: School Board Agendas On-line:
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