Long Beach school board members next week will contend with the district’s upcoming budget, though much still remains unknown about financial impact of a health pandemic and what that means for classrooms.
The Board of Education delayed a vote last week on the budget for the 2020-21 school year, pushing that decision to June 15. The district is expected to make about $70 million in cuts to its billion-dollar budget, which amounts to about $1,000 per student.
Superintendent Chris Steinhauser cautioned last week that the district may not have all the details until July 15, after the deadline to pass its budget on June 30, when the state receives tax receipts that will give districts a better sense of what cuts will be needed.
Boardmember Megan Kerr has suggested that the district sketch out opportunities for community input on the budget, with workshops to take place over the next few months as those numbers become concrete.
In the budget presentation last week, LBUSD’s Chief Business and Financial Officer Yumi Takahashi noted that the district’s $200 million-plus reserve would mitigate this year’s cuts.
“Our fiscal discipline throughout the years buys us time,” she said.
Teachers displeased
The board is continuing to receive flak over a raise it approved for incoming superintendent Jill Baker, who will get a salary increase of $58,000 over her predecessor. The reason, board members said, was to bring the district’s pay closer to the state average compensation for the position, as outgoing superintendent Chris Steinhauser has not accepted raises for several years.
The Teachers Association of Long Beach, the union for the district’s 3,800 teachers, is gearing up for a fight over the budget cuts, and has targeted Baker’s increase as a cause for concern. The TALB website’s homepage had a graphic reading “File This Under Outrageous” as its banner. In a letter to members posted on the website, TALB posted “Shame on you” next to the names of the four board members who voted to increase the salary.
Board member Juan Benitez was the lone holdout on Baker’s raise; he abstained from the vote.
“Thank you Dr. Juan Benitez for being the ONE adult in the room and NOT agreeing to this preposterous salary increase and administrator promotions during a global pandemic, an economy in dire straits and social unrest,” reads the letter.
Administrative assignments
There was more disagreement over the district’s appointment of new administrative assignments, including the promotion of Assistant Superintendent Tiffany Brown into a deputy superintendent role. TALB had publicly expressed a desire to see the district’s two vacated deputy superintendent positions eliminated (Baker’s promotion to superintendent vacates one and Ruth Ashley’s retirement vacates the other).
The vote on June 2 passed 4-1, with Benitez a rare dissenting vote.
Baker, who presented the assignments for approval, pointed out that the new appointments take place as part of a restructuring of the district’s Central Office that has cut more than a million dollars from its budget, also confirming that the other deputy superintendent position would be eliminated.
“There are no new positions; these are vacant positions being filled at the same time $1 million in cuts are happening at the executive staff level,” she said.