Erin Kutnick’s Blog

For those who do not get some of the local independent papers, below is my column for this week.

BEYOND THE BLACKBOARD – November 23, 2008

Budget Crisis Continues

By Erin Kutnick

What began as a financial and mortgage crisis about fifteen months ago has now spread to all aspects of our economy.  The inability for consumers to obtain financing and the decline in incomes has translated to fewer sales on homes, cars, consumer goods, and vacations.  All this has severely impacted revenues at the state level as income tax, sales tax, and even property tax has declined.

The 2008/2009 state budget was finally approved an unprecedented 85 days late.  Shortly after it was signed by the Governor, it became apparent that even that budget which was a mixture of cuts and revenue enhancements including borrowing against future revenue could not be funded.  Earlier this month, the Governor called the legislature into a special session to address the continuing deficit.  The senate and the assembly appear no closer today to reaching consensus than they were over the summer.

How will this affect us within CUSD?  That answer is mostly unknown other than the certain knowledge that any mid-year cuts will be devastating.  The school district and trustees are currently holding a series of budget workshops not to address this potential problem but another shortfall that must be dealt with before December 15.

Under AB1200, school districts must present to the county department of education a three-year budget.  The actual budgets for the next two years are estimates since the money from the state is unknown, but the numbers and fiscal solvency must be documented.  At this time, the Orange County Department of Education is requiring CUSD to identify $12.5 million in cuts for the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 school years to prove their fiscal solvency.  The county is also asking for a “back-up” plan on the sale of the surplus property in Aliso Viejo.

At the first of three budget workshops, district staff, trustees, and community members did discuss the potential mid-year cuts offering a multitude of suggestions and ideas. At the second workshop, Superintendent Carter chose to focus only on the 3-year budget issues that must be addressed before December 15.  District staff presented recommendations that identified about $11.4 million in cuts leaving just over $1 million left to identify.  These cuts are especially difficult as most want to protect all of the current programs and avoid anymore lay-offs.  But when 85% of the budget is comprised of salaries and benefits, there is not a lot left to work with.

Already identified are: reduce supplies by 25%, rent revenue from Building C (unused part of the Administration Building), no salary increases for the next two years (teachers, administrators, and classified), paperless agendas, bus rental, and draw-down reserves.  Several community members suggested other ways to save money and identify the additional $1 million.  Trustee Darnold suggested a utilities audit to make sure all schools were efficient and no money was being wasted.  All feasible suggestions should be included in the final workshop held on December 2 at the district office.  Trustees will vote on the final numbers on December 8, 2008, the same meeting where the four newly-elected Trustees will be sworn into office.

For more information on the budget presentations and the next workshop, visit the Capistrano Unified website at www.capousd.org.  Join me next time for more Beyond the Blackboard as I continue to monitor the budget crisis and other important issues within CUSD.

Erin Kutnick is the mother of three children, active in PTA, Athletic Boosters and other community organizations.

I attended the second of three budget workshops being held at the district office where the staff and trustees are trying to identify $12.5 million in budget cuts for the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 school years.  These cuts are part of the official proposed budget showing fiscal solvency for 3 years.

This week’s workshop was a lot more calm than last weeks where both trustees and several members of the recall committee harassed staff for what they said were inadequate numbers and presentations.

Bottom line is that the bulk of the cuts identified mean no raises for teachers over the next two years and a few other cost-savings ideas.  The real problem lies in the fact that these cuts are only on paper and don’t have to actually happen (or at least not yet).  The real cuts are coming as soon as the legislature admits how bad it really is in Sacramento and agrees on what they will need to do to address it.  Currently the Governor is recommending a $2.5 billion cut statewide to education which will have devastating effects on our district in the form of mid-year cuts.  These issues haven’t even been tackled yet since no one knows exactly how bad it will be.

It will be interesting to see where the trustees will try to cut when that horrible reality comes to town.

Believe it or not, the Registrar of Voters is still counting ballots and the election is not expected to be certified with “official” results until December 2, 2008.  At this time, my votes have increased dramatically, but so have my opponents leaving the percentages the same.

It seems unlikely that anything will change but it is interesting to watch.

To the 46, 831 people who voted for me, thank you!  And thank you to all of the amazing people in this school district who helped me make phone calls, walk precincts, host meet & greets, send e-mails, put out yard signs, made donations and showed me such tremendous support.  We almost did it!

The election did not turn out as we had hoped but I promise to continue to work for the children of this district and to advocate for the great public schools that we have.  Hopefully our new school board will respect our teachers and staff, communicate with parents, and value the children.

I look forward to the recall candidates (now trustees) lowering our taxes, reducing class sizes and operating with openness and transparency as they promised in their campaign.

Please be sure to vote tomorrow, and please join me in supporting a balanced school board by voting for the independent candidates who are committed to the children.  Together we can make Capistrano Unified the premier school district in the state.

Vote tomorrow:  Kooiman, Kutnick, and Stiff!!!

With just a few days to go, the so-called “honesty and integrity” recall gang sent another smear flier claiming that I and the other independent candidates will “award lucrative contracts to contractors and special interests”.  This is a joke (only it’s not funny).  The only money I have received for my campaign has come from parents, former parents, and concerned citizens from within CUSD.  Almost all of the money that the recall group has taken has come from OUTSIDE of our district.  Talk about special interest!  The latest flier was paid for by group in Northern California.  Are we supposed to believe that they care about what’s happening in CUSD or is it just another way to conceal where their outside, special interest money is coming from?

They also talk about the three independent candidates taking our district backwards.  Quite ironic since the recall slates entire campaign is based on the past and old news…the old superintendent (gone for over 2 years) and all of their old issues from 2005.  We need to move forward and get past these issues but the recall committee and their slate won’t allow that.  Their agendas are holding us back.

We all deserve honest trustees and that means people who show up to candidate’s forums, don’t launder their campaign funds, and don’t create phony blogs to hide their true identities and agendas.  Please support the candidates that have been honest and available during this campaign.  Vote for Andrea Kooiman, Erin Kutnick, and Duane Stiff.

Well, it’s not exactly an endorsement but it’s certainly a vote in favor of the independent candidates.  This is from Jonathan Volzke’s column in the special election issue of the Capistrano Dispatch.

As for the school board, I’m voting against the recall slate—Brick, Maddox, Palazzo and Winsten. The incumbent recall trustees have largely failed to impress me in the first 90 days, and it doesn’t make sense to me to have all seven members aligned with one group. That’s what caused our mess in the first place, isn’t it?

Support a balanced the school board.  Vote for Kooiman, Kutnick, and Stiff.