School Board Approves Budget for 2012-13 School Year

Updated 3:09 p.m.

The New Haven Unified School District is bracing for the impact of continued budget cuts for the upcoming school year.

On Tuesday night, the New Haven Board of Education approved an approximately $95.7 million budget for the 2012-13 school year, according to district spokesman Rick La Plante. The projected figure is down from $98 million last year and about $104 million the year before.

According to La Plante, the County Office of Education instructed the district to construct a budget based on the assumption that Gov. Brown’s tax initiative passes in November. The district stands to lose millions more if it fails.

The district is currently facing a nearly $11 million shortfall in state funding. If state voters don’t approve Brown’s tax plain, the district could face $5.4 million in additional cuts, La Plante said Wednesday. That would bring the district’s budget down to about $90.3 million.

The district was able to mitigate the impact of some of the cuts due to all New Haven employees , according to La Plante. The New Haven Teachers Association has already approved its agreement. A tentative agreement has also been made with the California School Employees Association and is pending a vote by members.

According to a press release issued Wednesday, the district staff’s concessions will allow New Haven to continue to offer middle school electives such as art and music and keep a majority of elementary school specialists, who teach science, music and physical education. The programs were in danger of being cut but will resume despite the .

As well, the district will also retain about 25 percent of library services in middle and high schools, rather than shut down library services completely.

The district will also provide two-thirds of the funding for stipends for after-school programs such as sports, band and forensics.

Under the new proposed budget and agreements, district staff will give up four workdays, leaving the school year at 175 days as it was last year. However, that number is still five days shorter than in previous years.

In the case that Gov. Brown's tax plan fails, the district may be forced to cut more days from the calendar, Chief Business Officer Akur Varadarajan noted in his staff report presented Tuesday night.

"This event would leave us no option at that juncture but to implement additional budget cut days and salary cuts to meet the gap," Varadarajan wrote.

According to Varadarajan, the state will allow school districts to shorten the school year by up to 15 days in the 2012-13 and in 2013-14 school years, if necessary.

See the full staff report by clicking the image above or download it from the New Haven website.

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