SCHOOL DISTRICT LOOKS FOR WAYS TO FEND OFF SHORTFALL.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Along with contemplating pay cuts and larger class sizes, Westside Union School District will do fund raising to try and close a $3.3 million shortfall in next year's budget.

Westside officials met with parents and other members of the community last week to brainstorm and come up with ideas for raising funds.

``I'd like to see (the quality of the schools) maintained. In order to maintain that, we have to come up with the money,'' said Barb Bessinger, a parent at Rancho Vista School who attended the meeting. ``If it means as a community we have to band together and raise that money, let's do it.''

Fund-raising ideas include holding a golf tournament, sending out letters to parents asking for contributions, seeking corporate donations, having carwashes, asking local businesses to share a percentage of profits with the district, sponsoring an adopt-a-child campaign in which people would provide $31 a year to cover the supply costs for one child, and getting a donated car and maybe even a new house to raffle off, officials said.

Westside must make $3.3 million in cuts in next year's budget to maintain a 3 percent budget reserve as required by the state.

The budget gap comes after district administrators had trouble figuring out the amount of financial reserves the district had at the end of the past fiscal year. County education officials declared the district might not be able to meet its financial obligations over the next three years without making spending cuts.

A Westside fiscal advisory committee has come up with a list of cuts for the board to consider at its April 13 meeting.

The list includes about 100 ideas, including increasing class sizes in the lower grades, pay cuts, reorganizing kindergarten, and cuts in management, as well as trying fund raising.

The meeting last Thursday at Esperanza School to discuss fund-raising ideas drew about 75 people, interim Superintendent Regina Rossall said.

District officials initially planned to ask for help in raising $250,000, or about $31 per student, to cover the cost of supplies for one year, but parents and others at the meeting urged the district to raise $3.3 million.

``The parents said they would feel more comfortable working for a bigger goal,'' trustee Deborah Rutkowski-Hines said. ``They really want us to go for the millions and keep fund raising going to really protect some of the programs.''

The district's fund-raising foundation already has pledged $25,000, Rossall said.

Bessinger said she went to the meeting in part to express her and other parents' concerns about whether Westside would use the money as promised.

``I wanted to make sure they earmarked the money for what they said they were going to use it for,'' Bessinger said.

Parents also said district officials need to work to restore parents' trust and confidence in the district, Bessinger said.

Also a factor in Westside's budget is a disputed 3 percent raise for employees, which district officials say the board has not approved but which teachers union officials say the district is required to pay.

About half of extra money is supposed to go to employees as bonuses or increased salary or benefits because their contracts entitle them to a portion of any extra funds that come in.

A total of $2.8 million of the $3.3 million could be saved by laying off teachers, although the district has not made a final decision on whether to let teachers go.

Westside earlier this month said it was considering laying off teachers because one of the cost-cutting options being weighed is increasing class sizes in grades kindergarten through three.

Under state law, school districts must notify teachers and other certificated employees by March 15 that their jobs might be considered for elimination.

Layoff notices were sent to about three dozen teachers. Also targeted were 24 teachers with temporary credentials, who do not require March 15 layoff notices but 30 days' notice.

Although the reduction in teaching staff would save Westside $2.8 million, that figure would be offset by a the loss of state funds if the district decides to do away with smaller class sizes, officials said.

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com