Report Card

School district officials from Huntington Beach joined forces with

others from across California to fight for education funding.

With the budget crisis hovering over the state following Governor Gray

Davis’ proposal earlier this month to cut dollars for schools, a

contingent of Orange County superintendents traveled to Sacramento

recently to plead their case to limit those proposed cuts and ask for

more flexibility in structuring their budgets.

Huntington Beach Union High School District Supt. Susan Roper was one

of 14 Orange County superintendents to travel to Sacramento this month to

speak on behalf of county schools.

County superintendents converged in the capital city the same time

that state legislators were there for a special session.

“I think we were well received and we were pleased with our

presentation,” Roper said. “Right now, we’re waiting for what our

governor has to say regarding this matter.”

Last fall the governor proposed more than $800 million in reductions

to revenues that school districts have already allocated. In five area

school districts alone, Roper said, the impact would be widely felt.

The governor’s proposals could mean a shortfall in excess of $2.5

million -- money, she said, that has already been committed locally.

Revenue losses to the three school districts in Huntington Beach would

be devastating. Huntington Beach Union High School District stands to

lose $840,000; Huntington Beach City School District, $301,000; and Ocean View School District, $586,000.

In addition, she said, Fountain Valley School District would see a cut

of $375,000 and Westminster School District would have a loss of

$448,000.

With the school year half over, it is “difficult for school staff to

slash budgets that they have been working from all year.”

Ocean View School District’s Chief Financial Officer, Mary Lou

Beckmann agreed with Roper’s estimation of the situation.

While they understand and agree that public education cannot be

exempted from the budget cuts, Beckmann said, they feel the

recommendations from the legislative analyst’s office of cutting state

programs that have not yet gone into place would achieve savings without

undermining current year budgets.

“It is very difficult to cut $586,000 midyear from a budget that is

86% committed to salary and benefits, and where much of high ticket items

such as equipment and capital projects are spent in the first few months

of the fiscal year so that teachers and students get the benefits all

year long,” Beckmann concluded.

Roper said two main suggestions that county superintendents presented

in Sacramento were suspending or delaying new initiatives not yet

underway in their schools, and redirecting funds that are not likely to

be spent in the current year.

“Budget cuts this deep will most certainly impact school programs,”

she said. “Our job is to try to help make those cuts without damaging the

education of our kids.”

A couple suggestions from county officials would be suspending the

Governor’s Performance Award, saving $157 million; delay the Teaching as

a Priority block grant, saving $98.5 million; delay additional teacher

training in math and reading, which would save $80 million; suspend

certified staff performance awards, saving $50 million, and return unused

class size reductions funds, saving $60 million.

Edison students hit ground zero

Nearly 50 Model United Nations students from Edison High School headed

to New York City Wednesday night to visit to Ground Zero.

The students, accompanied by three social studies teachers and the

John Elliot, the assistant principal, will visit the viewing platform at

Ground Zero and volunteer their time on Feb. 4 at nearby Nino’s Cafe

where they will prepare meals and serve food to relief workers at the

site of the World Trade Center.

“It should be a spectacular experience for these kids,” said Elliot.

Edison’s Model United Nations students staged a fund-raising drive to

collect money to help provide food and services to those working at

Ground Zero. Through the efforts of Edison’s student body, staff and

parents, the students will be able to present Nino’s Cafe with a donation

check of approximately $8,000.

One of the key events the Model United Nations students will be

participating in is a three-day conference held at Yale University in New

Haven, Conn. There, various topics such as terrorism will be discussed,

and debate competitions featuring schools from across the nations will

take place.

Students will also visit Ellis Island to see the Statue of Liberty, an

off-Broadway play, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Central Park.