School District's Financial Woes Continue

At the May 5 school board meeting, Michael Gardner, assistant superintendent of human resources, asked board members to approve the certified layoff settlement agreement. The agreement lays off 27 teachers at the end of the school year.

The resolution was presented to the board for final approval, with some amendments. “After consideration of the magnitude of the special education department, which in itself is a $5 million business, and in need of a highly qualified administrator to manage the legal and technical aspects of the program, the administration is recommending to the board to amend the resolution to remove our director of special education prior to voting,” said Gardner.

“The cost of not having a director of special education would be more than the cost of having one, with lawsuits with attorney fees,” said Superintendent Janice Adams. “One student being placed in a non-public school in the district would cost up to $70,000 or $80,000.” The board discussed reorganizing other administrative positions to pay for the cost of keeping the director of special education.

The other amendment regarded the vice principal and a counselor position at Benicia Middle School. Gardner explained that the superintendent's intent was to eliminate one or the other, but not both. He went on to say that the new principal decided to keep the full-time counselor and eliminate the part-time vice principal position.

The resolution passed 4-1, with trustee Dana Dean voting no.

Earlier in the meeting, and some parents addressed the board, asking them to use the district's reserve funds to save the jobs of the 27 teachers. The open comment segment of the meeting went on for more than an hour. The discussion and vote to go forward with the layoffs took less than 10 minutes.

Of those pink slips, six are from Benicia High, six from Benicia Middle School, three from Joe Henderson, four from Mary Farmar, two from Robert Semple and five teachers from Mathew Turner school.

It is hoped that state funds will become available after Gov. Jerry Brown's revised state budget is revealed May 19. If that happens, the laid off teachers could be rehired by the district as in years past.

Meanwhile, the state continues to defer cash payments to the school district, but still requires the district to ensure sufficient cash available for payroll and vendors. The district is seeking other sources for cash. The board voted to take advantage of an offer from the Solano county treasurer-tax collector to borrow against property taxes due to be collected.

“The Solano County treasurer-tax collector actually fronts us the property taxes instead of waiting for it to be collected in December and April,” explained Tim Rahill, chief business official for the district. The funds would be fronted interest-free. Benicia property tax rolls generate about $11 million a year. The proposal was passed 5-0.

One anticipated agenda item was a discussion and approval of the budget prioritization process. Rahill's report concluded, “We have some work to do over the next couple of weeks to provide additional information about budget priorites.” The board voted to move the agenda item to the next board meeting on May 19.