Strong Fiscal Oversight

By Sandra Crandall

For many years, local funds were the dominant source of district revenue. As the city of Fountain Valley was evolving from sparse agricultural homes to a city of many residences, the property tax base was growing, schools were being built and many children populated the schools.

With the city being 98.5% built out and families staying here for 35 or more years, Fountain Valley has the highest percentage of homes regulated under pre-Proposition 13 in Orange County. Even when homes sell and property values increase, it takes two to three years to capture the full benefit from the reassessed value, economic growth and housing inflation. The inelasticity of property taxes does not help with a steady revenue stream.

When the inequity issues between school districts were addressed in the 1970's, the State then became more than a minor partner in funding education. Education now has a rather privileged legal status in most state constitutions. Yet, there is a unique decentralized operation whereby 50 distinct state systems delegate to 13,000 local school districts. State revenues are derived from sales and income taxes which are linked to economic fluctuations. These revenues are more volatile than property tax revenue.

This multi-layered structure for funding schools then got another partner when about 8% of school revenues came from federal appropriations with the onset of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in 1965. No Child Left Behind legislation is simply the 2001 version of ESEA.

The recent $10 billion stimulus plan doubled the size of federal contributions to schools. This does provide stop-gap revenues during economic downturns. However, caution needs to be taken to prevent these revenue sources in times of crisis from becoming a permanent part of the funding stream.

How all this money is managed in both times of economic upturn and economic downturn is important.

Labor costs account for approximately 85% of our school district's budget. A planned strategy to move salaries to the mean was accomplished in the last ten years. New programs were either added or expanded.

As less funding was realized during the past three years, $7.1 million in reductions had to be made. Programs such as class size reduction, professional learning communities and reading clinic were cut. Many positions were not filled when people retired and classified employees had their hours reduced. The effects of these cuts reduced librarians' hours, support staff hours and maintenance hours. Furlough days were implemented with classified staff taking two days in the 2009-10 school year.

For the 2010-11 school year, five furlough days are dispersed between two less instructional days for students and three less professional days for all employees. This translates into a 2.85% loss in pay. Administrators share in the loss of work days and pay, as well. Employee insurance costs, for the 2010-11 school year, increased for a family approximately 140%. This is outrageous.

Understanding and cooperation of all employees, parents and the community were gained as cuts were being made in these difficult budget times. Ability to do so hinged on frequent, open informational meetings. All parties understood what informed the decisions and why these choices were made.

It is important to restore the lost instructional days for students and professional days and subsequent pay for employees.

In these challenging funding times, all aspects of operating our schools must be considered. Programs, personnel, leased properties, and current facilities must be viewed in terms of putting monies where it matters the most. Cost effectiveness must be weighed. All waste must be eliminated. Operating within the resources provided from the local, state and federal levels is essential.

Public schools enjoy strong support and Fountain Valley School District is no exception. Students are entitled to a free and appropriate public education. Upholding a fiduciary responsibility as a Board Member is imperative to ensuring the continued respect of the public and to carrying out the mission of public education.