CUTS TO BE DISCUSSED MUROC DISTRICT SETS MEETING TO GET AID IN SOLVING BUDGET WOES.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

NORTH EDWARDS - Muroc Joint Unified School District has scheduled a community meeting at Edwards Air Force Base to discuss proposed options aimed at reducing the district's $1.3 million budget deficit.

The district has come up with options that include laying off 12 teachers, capping the district's contributions for employee benefits at the present level, and closing down Irving L. Branch Elementary School on the base.

The district will not increase class sizes, a suggestion that earlier drew heavy opposition from teachers and parents.

``That went off the table with the (state) budget review team. They strongly recommended that we not go with that,'' said Superintendent Bertha Boullion.

The meeting will be at 7 p.m. Monday at the base's conference center, Building No. 5620, on Farrel Drive south of Yucca Drive in the main housing area. A meeting was held last week in Boron that lasted three hours and drew a crowd of 100, officials said.

The board is scheduled to take action on the budget options at a special meeting scheduled for Tuesday.

Kern County officials in September rejected Muroc's $22.4 million budget because of the deficit. If the district does not turn in an acceptable budget by Nov. 30, Kern County will impose one on the district, district officials said.

The state budget review team, which was appointed after the district's budget was rejected, recommended earlier this month cutting jobs, eliminating bonuses and reducing or capping health benefits coverage to get the district out of its budget crisis.

Closing one of the three schools on the base is among the options being considered, an idea that also drew opposition from parents.

One option calls for closing Branch and moving its 300-plus second- and third-graders to Bailey Avenue Elementary School and Forbes Avenue Elementary School, both nearby.

Bailey would become a K-2 campus, and Forbes grades 3-6, and that would save the district a total $748,000 over three years.

Another option would create one K-6 campus, combining the schools of Branch and Forbes and closing down Bailey, creating savings of $813,000 over three years.

In the area of utilities, the district could save $480,000 over three years by purchasing Southern California Edison's line and connecting to the base grid.

The district could lop off another $1.2 million by freezing employee benefits at their current level and instituting a co-payment for employees, selecting a less costly plan, or establishing a higher deductible amount.

Freezing benefits would be subject to negotiations with employee unions, Boullion said.