Posted on 01/07/2009 6:52:48 PM PST by SmithL
Richmond city leaders are hunting for $1.5 million a year over the next two years to help bail out the West Contra Costa school district from its financial hole and keep Richmond schools from closing.
The money would buy the district more time to lobby state and federal officials to forgive its debt, or to persuade voters to pay higher taxes to keep neighborhood schools with low enrollment open, city officials said.
City Councilwoman Maria Viramontes said the district must find a long-term solution to its problem, not just apply bandages.
With Richmond willing to pitch in, school district officials will ask the other cities in its jurisdiction — El Cerrito, Hercules, Pinole and San Pablo — for financial aid, too.
The proposed rescue plan comes as the struggling school district faces a $13.4 million budget shortfall next year. West Contra Costa also owes a combined $20 million-plus to the state, the federal government and IBM computers. State budget cuts this year and next are expected to deal an additional blow to district coffers, and that could mean layoffs, Superintendent Bruce Harter said.
The district is considering closing as many as eight schools in the next two years to save $3.4 million annually; the school board is scheduled to make a decision Feb. 11 on which campuses to close from a list of 13 — 10 elementary schools, Adams Middle and Kennedy High schools in Richmond, and Portola Middle in El Cerrito. Many of the elementary schools enroll fewer than 500 children, and officials say they no longer can afford to run all of them.
"I don't want to close any schools," school board member Madeline Kronenberg told the council. "The answer is to find the money somewhere."
In Richmond, where small neighborhood schools have been a tradition for decades, parents are balking at the idea of shuttering campuses near their homes and busing children farther away. In some cases, residents worry about combining students from divergent parts of the community, including some of Richmond's roughest neighborhoods.
The City Council on Tuesday night agreed to look for funding to spare Richmond schools from closure and regroup Jan. 20. City Manager Bill Lindsay said he will look for money outside the city's main operating fund, meaning basic city services such as police, fire and libraries will not be scaled back to save schools.
"I want to look under rocks we haven't looked under yet," Lindsay said, but he did not name specific sources.
Councilman Jim Rogers suggested using money from the community benefits agreement the city signed with oil giant Chevron in July. The $61 million deal includes funding for police, job training, community groups and other programs.
City officials faced their own fiscal crisis in 2004 that led to cuts in services and 300 job losses, but Richmond since has regained financial stability. The council passed a budget this year with conservative revenue projections, though with the economy slumping, Lindsay said some funding streams will come in lower than anticipated. Numbers are expected to be available next month.
In addition to possibly providing financial aid, the city will send a letter to state and federal officials asking them to forgive the school district's loans. The district owes the state about $14 million it borrowed in the 1990s and owes the federal government about $3.7 million. It owes IBM about $5 million for computers purchased in the 1980s.
It's a request that some council members are skeptical will succeed. The school district's pleas for loan forgiveness were rejected in the past, Harter said. State Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, made the same request on the district's behalf about 2007 when she was in the Assembly, but that failed.
The City Council also plans to draft a bill to state lawmakers seeking a reduction in the school district's payments.
Officials in other West Contra Costa school district cities said they would consider giving financial aid but made no direct promises Wednesday.
"I think the crisis in the district is a regional one," San Pablo Mayor Leonard McNeil said. "I am confident that the San Pablo City Council would be open to considering options to helping the school district. It's a very difficult situation. The cities aren't that solvent either."
Several years ago, the teachers union demanded substantial pay raises, but the school district didn't have money for raises. So instead, they promised LIFETIME 100% healthcare benefits for any teacher with over 5 years in the district. The school district is rapidly approaching the point where the entire budget will be reserved for retirement benefits.
Richmond and El Cerrito can throw as much money as they want at the school district, but there will never be enough money to educate the children.
This is the school district that I told you would be a bellwether for many California agencies.
Laptops for students, I presume?
Students? They are now refered to as soldiers in Zero’s Internet Army.
Bailout! Now!
Because cutting spending is, like, NEVER an option.
Lucky for them Vallejo isn't in their jurisdiction. ;^)
With all of their collective brainpower, couldn't they come up with sensible alternatives, such as consolidating administrative operations? Why do schools with fewer than 500 students need a full-time principal, and the overhead that goes with it?
Millions, perhaps billions, would be saved by eliminating ESL. I'm a strong believer in language immersion. I'll admit my bias due to my personal experience.
My first two years in Germany, I took no German lessons, other than living on the economy. When I assigned to a position on battalion staff, I had the time to take a couple of classes at the rec center. I never reached fluency, but my last two years in Germany were even more incredible! I fondly recall times when the natives would give me a befuddled look, i.e. he really looks like an American soldier, but his Deutsche sprechen has no accent.
One of the best times of my life was the summer of '79. I was the Exec. Officer of a detachment at a German anti-aircraft range. We were the only Americans for about 200 miles. After the assignment ended, I returned 2-3 times each year, due to the friends I made.
IMO, ESL coddles students. Immersion works because you learn from your mistakes, because you're forcing your brain to think and react in another language. I had about 5 years of ESL style Spanish from 5th grade to 9th grade. I learned little, and retained little.
The attempt to remove the concept of failure permeates our educational system. The heck with that! I've got a PHD in Mistake-ology. Life comes at you in ways you can't imagine. The sooner our kids learn that, the better off they'll be.
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