11:15am | The Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education on Monday unanimously approved the school district’s slashed operating budget for the 2011-12 school year.
The $660 million budget reflects about $60 million in cuts, which were necessary to address an anticipated loss of more than $50 million in revenue stemming from the state’s continued cuts to education funding and there being no additional federal stimulus funds available.
Click here to view a copy of the approved budget.
The budget cuts represent the more than 700 layoffs, increased class sizes, closing of two schools and reductions in busing services as well as graduation requirements, among others unpopular moves, that the school board had previously approved over the course of the last six months.
LBUSD Superintendent Christopher Steinhauser said recently that the district has shaved more than $200 million off its annual budget since 2008.
The district’s new fiscal year begins July 1.