BOARD OF EDUCATION DELAYS VOTE ON FUND REDUCTIONS.Byline: Holly Edwards Staff Writer The Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Board of Education considered slashing an additional $54.7 million from next year's budget on Thursday but delayed a vote to give more time to consider the reductions. The cutbacks would come in addition to $384.6 million in reductions approved last month, and would bring total budget reductions for the upcoming fiscal year to more than $439 million. The Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. is trying to balance its $5 billion general fund budget for the new fiscal year that starts July 1. Faced with uncertainties in state and federal funding, Superintendent Roy Romer Roy R. Romer (born October 31, 1928 in Garden City, Kansas, United States) was the 39th governor of Colorado and served as the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District from 2001 to 2006. advised the board to adopt a long-term view and look beyond one-time cuts and shifts in spending. ``What we're in is an anomaly where we're having to cut from our budget and then watch funding drop in from the state and from the federal government by parachute,'' Romer
A Romer or Roamer is a simple device for accurately plotting a grid reference on a map. told the board. ``That's why I've always thought we should take a five-year look at the budget.'' The board postponed until June 11 a decision on the reductions, which would put the purchase of new school buses and school police vehicles on the back burner Noun 1. back burner - reduced priority; "dozens of cases were put on the back burner" precedence, precedency, priority - status established in order of importance or urgency; "... , and suspend the taping and televising of school board committee meetings. School board President Caprice ca·price n. 1. a. An impulsive change of mind. b. An inclination to change one's mind impulsively. c. Young predicted that $30 million to $50 million in cuts would be needed as the school board struggles to cover the increasing costs of providing employee health insurance. The additional cuts also would include $15.8 million in reductions to administrative positions in the central office and Inspector General's Office. Nearly 90 maintenance employees could also face layoffs as a result of the reductions, for a total savings of $4 million. Transportation costs would be reduced by using the same school buses to serve two schools, which would each begin and end the school day at different times. However, no bus driver layoffs are foreseen in the plan. The school district also plans to convert six opportunity schools, which serve some 1,200 at-risk students The term at-risk students is used to describe students who are "at risk" of failing academically, for one or more of any several reasons. The term can be used to describe a wide variety of students, including,
All high schools in the district would also be asked to obtain sponsors for their athletic programs, for a total savings of $300,000. |
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