Peninsula implements budget cuts

After issuing precautionary statements for past months, the school district finally implemented the anticipated budget cuts a few weeks ago. At the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year, Principal Mitzi Cress announced exactly what the impact of these heavy reductions on the Peninsula family would be. The budget cuts did not come as a surprise; the principal had been preparing the Panther community to face changes by sending out regular updates as early as last April, in which she presented the complications the district was working with. “As school ended, participation donations were down by over $200,000 from the previous year, which was a 35% decrease in participation donations,” explained Cress in an electronic update sent out to the Peninsula family on Aug. 30. Then, at the end of June 2012, the Board of Education enacted a budget that cut $2.5 million from our school district budget. Cress “had to make tough decisions” to decide where the cuts would be taken from. As a result, over 20 of Peninsula’s academic programs have been altered or removed altogether, in the form of either certified cuts, which are cuts of certified teachers, or classified cuts, which are cuts of support staff like librarians and custodians. Further, several courses have been combined, such as Drama and Art into a single class. In addition, the new budgeting necessitated even larger class sizes this year, as several class periods were removed. Other cuts in extracurricular activities were the result of the dramatic drop in participation donations. For instance, Academic Decathlon no longer exists as a class, and nor does the surf team. Other schools have also been severely affected, since the entire state is facing the challenge of working with a new, limited budget. “The State budget remains highly uncertain,” District Superintendent Walker Williams said. “Funding provided by the State for public schools has been reduced and/or deferred for four straight years. Unfortunately, these reductions will result in fewer teaching positions, some higher class sizes, employee furlough days and reduced classified support staff.” Much of the current district budget and its improvement depend on Propositions 30 and 38, which will be on the ballot this November. “In June, the State approved a budget with an assumption that voters will approve Proposition 30 on the November ballot, which State leaders claim will stabilize education funding,” continued Williams. On Sep. 6, the district staff proposed an initial draft of proposed expenditure reductions if Propositions 30 and/or 38 were not to pass. “Despite all of this bad news, the Peninsula High staff has returned with a positive attitude, and remains committed to doing what they love to do: teach,” Cress concludes. “We [still] hope that the State of California soon gives us brighter budget news.”