District could switch state funding status

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT-MESA -- District officials will consider changing the way

Newport-Mesa schools are funded for the chance to cash in on about $3

million.

Gov. Gray Davis’ announcement Tuesday that his state budget revision

proposes to add $1.84 billion for schools to spend however they see fit

was just what districts have been screaming for.

That money, however, will only go to “revenue limit” districts -- not to

those like the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, which are funded

through “basic aid.”

“If we’re still ‘basic aid,’ we would not get a penny,” said Supt. Robert

Barbot. “We have to pick which one is the biggest pot and jump to it.”

Newport-Mesa recently qualified as a “basic aid” district due to an

increase in property taxes, allowing it to return to funding schools

through local taxes. This means it doesn’t matter how many students

enroll in the district’s programs -- the district still gets the same

amount of money.

The proposed $1.84 billion in discretionary funds will only go to

“revenue limit” districts, which rely on the state for dollars based on

the number of students.

Districts are able to switch back and forth, Barbot said.

If the district does make the switch to “revenue limit” status, the

proposed budget revision could mean about $3 million for the general

fund, said Mike Fine, assistant superintendent in charge of finances.

Regardless of its effect on Newport-Mesa, district officials are

applauding Davis’ loosening of purse strings.

“It’s the right thing to do whether it has any positive impact on

Newport-Mesa or not,” Fine said.

Those who are not left with a monumental decision -- teachers, parents

and school board members -- are jumping for joy at the announcement.

“We feel it’s quite appropriate that they made the announcement on the

Day of the Teacher,” said Linda Mook, president of the Newport-Mesa

Federation of Teachers. “It was certainly good news for our district and

all schools that are resource poor.”

If Newport-Mesa does get the money, nearly everyone agrees where it

should go.

“I think we have a lot of needs in our district, but I think one of the

biggest is compensation of teachers,” Mook said.

District officials and school board members agreed that teachers are a

priority for the funds.

“This will hopefully help us reinstate some of the programs we had to

cut,” said school board member Serene Stokes. “We need to look at it and

see if we can give teachers a salary increase or a bonus, depending on if

we’re going to have the money to sustain the increase. I think we owe it

to these faithful teachers and classified employees.”