|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Foothill-De Anza Community College District is expecting deep funding cuts starting next year, with the newly approved 2020-21 budget expected to saddle the district with over $11 million in deficit spending despite efforts to keep costs down.
But the grim forecast could very well turn out be wrong as soon as next week. The significant austerity measures proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in his May budget, largely the cause of the financial woes, is being actively challenged by state lawmakers reluctant to slash funding for schools amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The state legislature has until June 15 to present Newsom with a budget, leaving school districts with little clarity on how to plan for the future. Foothill-De Anza’s board of trustees passed its 2020-21 budget on Monday, but with the caveat that everything could change between now and October.
“I can’t even emphasize enough how tentative this budget is,” said Susan Cheu, Foothill-De Anza’s finance director.
Last month, Newsom announced that the sudden recession caused by the coronavirus and shutdown of large sectors of the state economy will punch a $54 billion deficit in the state budget for next year, using the exigent circumstances as a rationale for slashing $19 billion in funding for public schools. The budget promises to bring back public school funding as a top priority in the event that the federal government passes another relief package for state and local governments.
Unlike other Peninsula school districts, which are fully funded through property tax revenue, Foothill-De Anza is heavily reliant on state funding to stay afloat and faces an immediate 10% drop in funding under the May budget. The district plans to dip into its reserve funds to offset deficit spending, but the rainy day fund is expected to dry up by 2022.
Last week, California state and assembly leaders announced an alternative to Newsom’s budget, largely rejecting what they call “draconian cuts” to education and critical programs. Instead of upfront cuts that are rolled back when federal funding materializes, lawmakers are hoping to do the reverse: maintain funding levels assuming federal aid is on the way, and figure out how to pay the bills if Congress doesn’t follow through.
“Acknowledging the strong likelihood of additional federal relief, the plan would use reserves to avoid overcutting now, while still keeping reserves on hand for the future, and ensuring full funding of K-14 schools,” according to a joint statement from lawmakers.
The softened approach to the deficit comes after the school administrators and the state’s largest school employee unions sent a joint letter opposing Newsom’s budget, urging a rollback of education cuts at a time when schools are already facing unprecedented challenges. Public schools have had to adjust to distance learning and teach students from home since schools closed in March, and now face the uphill battle of safely reopening schools in the fall while taking a hit to the budget.
“These cuts will strip districts of the resources needed to reopen schools, which is critical to the recovery of our state’s economy,” the letter states.
While the budget proposed by the Legislature is good news on its face for Foothill-De Anza, Cheu said there are still reasons to be concerned. If the federal funding doesn’t come, the state is expected to rely on deferrals, essentially asking districts to borrow to pay the bills with a promise of paying it back. This could very well just push deep cuts down the road rather than solve the problem, Cheu said.
Adding even more uncertainty, the move by state lawmakers hinges even more on federal funding that currently lacks enough political support to pass. The House last month passed the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, which proposes a $3 trillion relief package including $875 billion for state and local governments. But the bill is unlikely to survive in its current form in the Republican-led Senate, with U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stating last month that the bill would be rewritten in the Senate and seek support from President Donald Trump’s administration.
California lawmakers are hoping to hold out for federal funding until Oct. 1 before falling back to a contingency plan.
Also a complete mystery in the budget is future enrollment for the district, which has steadily declined for several years and has threatened to trigger budget cuts even during the regional economic boom. Fall enrollment in California’s community colleges tends to increase during recessions, including the years following the dot-com bust and the Great Recession in 2008.
Summer enrollment is already way up and children are reluctant to go straight to a four-year university and spend so much money, said Tim Shively, president of the Faculty Association, the district’s largest employee union. He said the budget doesn’t make an attempt at predicting a surge in enrollment, instead presenting a “gloomier than necessary” budget. “I just think that we should keep open this prospect that things can be radically better than they’re being forecast at present,” he said.
Find comprehensive coverage on the Midpeninsula’s response to the new coronavirus by Palo Alto Online, the Mountain View Voice and the Almanac here.
Kevin Forestieri writes for the Mountain View Voice, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.
Kevin Forestieri writes for the Mountain View Voice, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.
Kevin Forestieri writes for the Mountain View Voice, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.
Kevin Forestieri writes for the Mountain View Voice, the sister publication of PaloAltoOnline.com.
