Maintain a fiscally solvent budget

By Marie E. Brizuela

Maintain a fiscally solvent budget, to avoid any layoff of employees or elimination of programs, to seek outside grants and to increase revenue through rental or sale of surplus property, to provide salary increases, and to explore revenue generating partnerships to meet budget needs.

The cost of paying for the increased fringe benefits premiums was a burden to our budget. Last year, we were successful in negotiating a "cap" on the fringe benefits premiums at the Kaiser rate which covers the entire family. Employees were given the opportunity to switch to Kaiser and cover the entire family to avoid paying any increases over the "cap".

The District has maintained the step and column and longevity pay for employees. My goal is to find funding ncessary to grant a salary increase to our employees.

In reality, employees have received either a wage or fringe benefit increase over the past few years.

Funding is critical in all school settings. Funds are not equally disbursed from the State and many State and Federal mandated programs infringe on our already tight budget. Districts need to monitor their budgets and not spend foolishly. We must budget wisely and seek additional funding or grants whenever possible.

The Board needs to monitor the budget to avoid any layoff of employees, elimination of programs that directly help our students, and closure of schools. We need to support neighborhood schools because it is good for children and our community.