A few days ago the SST asked Mariposa County School District Superintendent, Randy Panietz, some questions that we had heard voiced by the public at the Woodland School meeting.
A question from the Public was about switching to a four day school week and savings that would be achieved.
Mr. Panietz in response to that question told the SST: “I researched this issue last year and Dr. Atwood researched it this year. The State position is that going to a 4 day week would be fine, however we still by statute run school for 180 days. The 4 day week just extends to a version of year round school. We will be submitting a waiver request for the 4 day week with additional minutes added to the other four days to maintain the same minutes we currently run.”
Would there be any savings in going to a four day week? Mr. Panietz responded “The savings would be realized in reduced busing, cafeteria and utility savings of approximately 15-25%.”
A member of the public mentioned that the ‘Reserves’ the school is holding onto should now be used.
In response to keeping the ‘Reserves’ Mr. Panietz said that “The Governor proposed that Districts be allowed to reduce their mandated minimum reserve from 3% to 1.5%. This did not make it through the to the adopted State budget. If I were to reduce our reserves we are required to pay it back within the next fiscal year. Things do not look better for next year with an additional cut to education of 4.5% on top of 15.4% this year. Reducing reserves is a short term bandage that creates larger problems down the road. It is not advised or fiscally would leave us no options if as predicted the economy continues to go down hill.”
Also at the meeting a school worker asked that if all employees took a pay cut would that solve the budget shortfall.
When we asked Mr. Panietz about that question he responded “At this time the administrative staff, including myself have committed to salary reduction in an effort to save jobs and programs. I am hopeful that other employee groups seriously consider this option. We have a large gap between what we identified as cuts and the target figure to remain fiscally solvent. This option if taken by all employees could go a long way to saving jobs and programs.”
Another member of the public said that it seems the District waited until the 11th hour 59th minute to bring this before the public.
When we asked Mr. Panietz about this he said “The discussion about the budget and the implications of the shrinking state fiscal resources has been very open and transparent. I am hearing from many folks that they thought it was not real to them because they could not see the effect in the local context. These discussions have been going on in a variety of forums including numerous public comments from me at Board meetings as part of my report. For some it is not real until it lands on your door step. Unfortunately that day is now upon us all.”
We asked Mr. Panietz how long this budget issue has been going on and he said “We like all Californian’s have been following the California legislature and Governor posture, battle and then pass a flawed budget more than 2 months into this school year. Then again we followed the same group split along partisan lines after the Governor declared a fiscal emergency and the legislature were called into special session three times in an effort to come to an agreement. We have been aware through associations such as ACSA (Association of California School Administrators), CCSESA (California County Superintendents Educational Service Association), and SSC (School Service of California) that we were headed for more sustained fiscal crisis. Since November 2007 we have been working on Budget reduction plans and Plan H that was passed on April 2008 and was the first plan made public as a result of that work. Since that time D.O. administrative staff have continued the work of planning for future budget reductions. In January 2009 I took a 90 minute presentation to all of our employees and solicited additional input, beyond what we had previously collected from staff as part of the Strategic Planning process. As I went from location to location the list of suggestions grew. That is the list with attached budget data that I presented at the January 26 Board Meeting. Then on the March 3, Special Board meeting I presented my recommendations. The budget that was passed looks very different than the budget the governor submitted as his proposed budget plan. We try to read the tea leaves through the above listed organization to plan in advance.”
Finally we asked Mr. Panietz about the closing of the Wawona School as Mariposa County District Four Supervisor Kevin Cann mentioned at the Tuesday Board of Supervisors meeting. The Wawona School was in the Bass Lake School District, but with their budget cuts they decided to close the school.
Mr. Panietz said that “I have been approached formally by a contingent from Wawona school. They are gathering requested information and data for the conversation to continue.”
Look for future Questions and Answer Sessions with Mr. Panietz as we all work through the school district funding situation.