School Districts Budgets

Trustees of the Capistrano Unified School District passed a $158-million budget this week that is nearly $18 million more than last year's spending plan. The budget includes funds to hire additional teachers as well as $800,000 for facilities, supplies and materials to open a new school, Oak Grove Elementary School, this fall.

Students from Western Avenue Elementary's special education classes sat in the shade and counted rings on "tree cookies" taken from redwoods on a recent field trip. "This is where learning comes alive and is more meaningful," said teacher Mysie Dela Pena about the Christensen Math Science and Technology Center in San Pedro. "We talk about a lot of these elements in the classroom, but this is where they get the experience firsthand. " The interactive life science classroom is a beleaguered survivor of the Los Angeles Unified School District's budget cuts.

The Orange Unified School District approved its annual budget without much controversy. The district will enter the 1996-97 year with a balanced budget of about $119 million, with revenues of about $120 million, said Stanley Oswalt, the interim assistant superintendent for business. The budget will allow administrators to set aside about $9 million to meet the state mandate for a reserve fund equaling 3% of the district's budget.

Los Angeles voters will be asked in June to approve a temporary $100-per-parcel annual tax to help fund city schools, but Supt. Ramon C. Cortines warned Tuesday that the increase still would not be enough to head off bigger class sizes, teacher layoffs and, possibly, a shorter school year. Facing a projected $640-million budget shortfall, officials said the parcel tax would yield $95.2 million annually for the four years it would be in effect. The school board needed to act quickly, Cortines said, so the money could offset some cutbacks for the upcoming school year.

The Los Angeles County office of education says it cannot approve the Inglewood Unified School District's 1997-1998 budget because several issues remain unresolved. After the annual review of all 81 county school districts, county officials notified Inglewood last week that its $110-million budget had been disapproved. The review found that several funds had negative balances and business operations needed to be improved.

Karen Peterson is right ("PTAs Current Affair," March 31). Without PTAs' financial support, children are not going to have enrichment programs in the public schools. What is increasingly alarming, however, is that PTAs are now being assumed as an integral revenue source for school districts' budgets. Once coalesced to provide discretionary services, PTAs are increasingly becoming viewed as the path of last resistance to fund school sites while commensurate spending cuts do not seem to be occurring at the district level.

Orange Unified School District trustees agreed to start an English immersion program for preschoolers, to hire a public relations officer and to tee off on a girls' golf program before adopting an annual budget of $145 million last week. The budget for the 1998-99 fiscal year is down by several million dollars from last year, largely because finance officials did not have to include the $3 million the district spent to renovate McPherson magnet school, which opened in September.

Despite an incomplete review of high overtime costs for school business workers, administrators asked the Los Angeles Board of Education on Monday to count on spending up to $2 million in next year's budget to pay for such overtime. In January, a Times analysis found that overtime pay for 860 eligible workers in the budgeting, accounting and technology departments had increased 500% from five years ago--to about $2 million last year--while overtime in other school divisions rose 25% overall.

Trustees for the Orange Unified School District voted unanimously this week to fight a new state law that will allow county government to levy fees on districts for the costs associated with collecting property taxes. The board voted to contribute $4,500 to a legal fund established by the California School Board Assn. that will be used to fund a lawsuit opposing the law. The board's vote follows similar action taken by the Newport-Mesa Unified School District earlier this week.

After cutting back spending, the Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District has won approval of its budget from the Los Angeles County Office of Education. But despite the approval, county officials said they intend to closely monitor the finances of the small school district. "We still need to watch (the district) because it's new," said Maureen Saul, an officer with the education office's business advisory services department.

Orange Unified School District trustees agreed to start an English immersion program for preschoolers, to hire a public relations officer and to tee off on a girls' golf program before adopting an annual budget of $145 million last week. The budget for the 1998-99 fiscal year is down by several million dollars from last year, largely because finance officials did not have to include the $3 million the district spent to renovate McPherson magnet school, which opened in September.

The Los Angeles County office of education says it cannot approve the Inglewood Unified School District's 1997-1998 budget because several issues remain unresolved. After the annual review of all 81 county school districts, county officials notified Inglewood last week that its $110-million budget had been disapproved. The review found that several funds had negative balances and business operations needed to be improved.

The Inglewood Unified School District has completed a three-year fiscal recovery plan on time and has wiped out a $900,000 deficit in its Community Adult School Fund, county education officials said Monday. The adult school's financial woes were part of a $2-million deficit that led the Inglewood Unified School District in 1994 to dip into a state-required 3% reserve.

The school board Monday is expected to adopt the district's preliminary $180-million budget for the 1997-98 school year, which is up about $7 million from this year. The increased money comes in part from the district's growth and the state's improved economy. Gov. Pete Wilson's budget for the 1997-98 year proposed a statewide increase in funding of nearly $1.7 billion, including $500 million to help expand the primary class size-reduction program.

Employees of the Fullerton Joint Union High School District will receive pay raises of at least 2.65% in the coming year. The raises, which may be slightly higher if the state decides to give school districts money to cover cost-of-living increases, were passed this week by the school board as part of a $76.7-million budget for the 1997-98 fiscal year. The raise is also part of a three-year contract agreement, which last year gave teachers a 5% pay increase.

In the latest and most extensive review of the Los Angeles Unified School District's troubled computer division, a management audit obtained Friday by The Times strongly condemns a culture of fear and finger-pointing that it says has crippled the entire district. So mismanaged is the system that when auditors asked for a list of major technology projects and the administrators responsible for them, they learned that no such list existed.

In its first glimpse of next year's budget, the Los Angeles Board of Education on Monday reviewed a $5.3-billion spending plan, lifted to unprecedented levels by California's economic recovery. And, when updated state budget estimates are released later this week, funding for the Los Angeles Unified School District is expected to grow. Although the budget--up from $4.

It was to be the Robin Hood of public funding agreements: taking from the richer schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District to give to poorer ones--a plan that pitted inner-city schools against their suburban counterparts. But after four years of planning and negotiating, the Robin Hood mechanism, formally known as the Rodriguez Consent Decree, appears to be panning out a little differently. Under a plan being reviewed by the school board for a final vote Jan.

In its first glimpse of next year's budget, the Los Angeles Board of Education on Monday reviewed a $5.3-billion spending plan, lifted to unprecedented levels by California's economic recovery. And, when updated state budget estimates are released later this week, funding for the Los Angeles Unified School District is expected to grow. Although the budget--up from $4.

Despite an incomplete review of high overtime costs for school business workers, administrators asked the Los Angeles Board of Education on Monday to count on spending up to $2 million in next year's budget to pay for such overtime. In January, a Times analysis found that overtime pay for 860 eligible workers in the budgeting, accounting and technology departments had increased 500% from five years ago--to about $2 million last year--while overtime in other school divisions rose 25% overall.