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Home :: Discover EGUSD :: Superintendent :: Superintendent's Message
As we move through the 2008-2009 school year it is quickly becoming clear that this year will once again bring us the painful challenge of identifying budget cuts. On December 1, the National Bureau of Economic Research declared that the U.S. has been in a recession for a year. That really came as no news to the Sacramento region that has been hit hard with residential foreclosures, businesses shutting their doors and people losing their jobs. It is a challenging time.
State officials have made it clear that the economic downturn is having a severe impact on the state budget, from which school districts receive the majority of our funding. The same day we learned that we are officially experiencing a recession, the Governor called a special session of the legislature to solve the estimated $11.2 billion current-year shortfall.
At the time of this writing, the Governor’s solution to this shortfall is a proposed $4.5 billion in mid-year cuts and $4.4 billion in new revenues for the 2008-2009 fiscal year. One of the Governor’s solutions to closing the budget shortfall is to make $2.2 billion in mid-year cuts to K-12 education. The size of mid-year reductions in funding being discussed translates to approximately $20 million less for EGUSD.
It is currently unclear if any mid-year cuts will take place. However, rest assured that should mid-year cuts not take place, public education will feel the budget axe in the Governor’s January proposed budget. Mid-year cuts are very challenging to school districts. Please know that the district is being proactive in instituting several cost-saving measures now in anticipation of the cuts being considered by the state.
In the Elk Grove Unified School District, both the Board of Education and administrative team will continue to monitor the state’s actions closely. The district has a $25 million reserve fund that will be used to assist us in weathering these tough budget times. However, our reserves will only cushion the blow. They cannot absorb all the cuts we are likely to see based on the most recent information released from the state.
State law requires that California school districts submit a three-year balanced budget. In order to meet our state mandates, the district is being proactive in exploring possible areas to cut for the 2009-2010, 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years. As we move forward through these tough budgetary times, we will continue to post updates on our Budget Watch webpage.
Please know that, on behalf of the district, I have written letters to our legislative representatives asking for them to find viable, creative ways to fund public education as they work through the budget crisis. I encourage each of you to advocate on behalf of education and our children. At Elk Grove Unified we will continue to lobby our legislators and focus on what we do best – teaching and learning. If you have any ideas or questions, please contact me at (916) 686-7700.
Steven M. Ladd, Ed.D.
Superintendent
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