SCHOOL BUDGET TO SQUEEZE FUNDS; SIMI VALLEY UNIFIED PLAN TO COVER PAY INCREASES, BUILDING COSTS.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Daily News Staff Writer

Higher pay for teachers and staff will gobble up district reserves, and building overruns at the new Wood Ranch campus will cut into operating funds under Simi Valley Unified School District's 1998-99 spending plan going before the school board tonight.

The district's $130 million budget would provide a 6 percent promised pay raise that officials say is long overdue, $460,000 for the new school, and cuts elsewhere in school operations and wish-list items.

Meanwhile, parents of the new Wood Ranch Elementary School, outraged that the $9.3 million campus opening in the fall will not have extra computers, plan to turn out in force tonight with an unorthodox proposal to have the district ask city officials for funds for their school.

``It's apparent to us when those doors open they are going to discover things that need to be done,'' said Wood Ranch parent Marybeth Jacobsen. ``I'm not talking frills. I'm talking get yourself through the day type stuff.''

The 1998-99 spending plan reflects Gov. Wilson's proposed 2.18 percent cost-of-living increase for schools and provides about $3,790 per pupil.

However, Simi Valley Unified's budget, like most throughout California, is essentially a draft document that will be adjusted once Sacramento approves the state budget in coming months.

Aside from the salary hikes, which were approved as part of a two-year contract last summer, and money for the new school, the budget is what officials call a bare-bones spending plan. It eliminates many wish-list items - such as extra reading teachers at the elementary schools, a vision-screening nurse and a dance studio at Santa Susana High School.

The district is keeping a running tally of items that may be reinstated if Sacramento bolsters funding when the final budget is passed in coming months.

The wish list includes $140,000 for computers at Wood Ranch school. Last week the board agreed to provide $30,000 for school computers, televisions and videocassette recorders, but parents at Wood Ranch are asking for four computers in every classroom.

Parents say the school board should ask the city to refund a portion of $700,000 paid when Wood Ranch was built, an unprecedented idea that officials from the city and schools have not yet debated.

School board President Janice DiFatta said she would not comment on the proposal until she had a chance to review it, but does not expect Wood Ranch to receive any additional computer funds from the district budget.

``We have been able to provide them with what we have been able to provide every other school,'' DiFatta said. ``To me, it would be unfortunate and inappropriate to take out of the general fund and allocate to Wood Ranch without looking at the needs of other schools.''

Simi Valley Mayor Greg Stratton said the money, which was part of a complex agreement between the developer, school district and city, cannot be refunded because it is already being spent on the new police facility.

``It wasn't their money in the first place,'' Stratton said, explaining the school district assumed the developer's debt to the city in exchange for the canyon property the district later sold to pay for the new school.

The bulk of spending increases under the 1998-99 budget will go to cover staff pay raises, which will cost about $4 million and force the district to draw on reserves to cover the costs.

Officials said the pay hikes were needed to keep its salaries competitive, even though the hike will slash district reserves from $11 million in 1996 to $4 million for 1998.

``We needed to do something to keep our teachers and attract (new ones),'' DiFatta said. ``What matters is those people in the classroom. We needed to get our teachers up and be competitive.''

Simi Valley Unified teachers earn between $31,558 and $61,420, depending on experience, compared to those in the Conejo Valley Unified District who make between $32,640 and $60,596, and those in Ventura Unified who earn between $30,000 and $58,761.