School Board Approves Some Budget Cuts, Tables Others

“Please think again before you cut my job. I have all the master codes up here,” Robert Gray, the school district’s former locksmith, said as he pointed to his head. “I am the doctor of the doors. It’s not just about the lock. In the best interest of the Culver City school district, I think I should stay.”

Gray was one of several employees, teachers and parents who approached the podium at Tuesday night's Board of Education meeting to request that panel members alter a budget cut list that features the loss of 27 employees and the reduction of several positions from 12 to 11 months. These cuts, which would save the district $828,572 a year, represent only a piece of the $3 million reduction that Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Ali Delawalla is targeting; the other piece of the pie is composed of 19.2 teacher pink slips, totaling $1,248,000 in savings per year.

“It’s a moving target,” Delawalla said about his goal, which takes into account a balanced budget and a state-mandated reserve of 3 percent. Depending on how the state budget shakes out in the next few months, CCUSD could lose as much as $300 in per-student state funding, which was $5,027 last year. The district is looking to tighten its belt wherever possible, but it’s going to be tough.

Many members of the audience were outfitted in yellow T-shirts and held signs protesting the cuts list, which has been a major source of contention in the community in recent weeks. Among the positions eliminated last night were the locksmith, a heating technician, an account clerk and an instructional materials clerk, moves that will save the district $267,000 a year, according to Delawalla. However, several positions on the district’s original proposal have been tabled to allow further discussion.

Originally, the security department was facing a substantial reorganization, shifting six security guards’ schedules from an eight hour, 10 month schedule to a maximum seven hour day during the school year only. This proposal was slated to save the district $122,000 per year. On Tuesday however, only a vacant security guard position was eliminated. 

Now the Board of Education has decided to send the security proposal back to Security Guard Supervisor Ted Yant to explore other options, President Scott Zeidman said in an interview with Patch.

“It seemed to be the board’s decision that cuts need to be made, but in a way that properly secures the campuses and can save us $100,000,” he said.

Another agenda item that was postponed is the elimination of 22 instructional aide positions, a particularly sore point for many parents and their children. A young girl named Ava approached the microphone with her mother: “Please don’t cut our teachers and our teacher’s aides; we need them,” she said.

Said Angela Marino, a mother of an El Rincon student: “I am here to speak for those in the district who may have the smallest voice, but who will also be affected by the cuts, which are the special needs children.” She explained that her son’s teacher was one of the 19.2 teachers who received pink slips in March. “To my son, the aides, teachers and the support staff are all like Mrs. Rezac. They love these kids.

“With these cuts, are we still giving our children the academic and personal skills necessary to achieve his and her highest potential?”

Instead of a wholesale cut, the Board of Education decided to wait to see whether it will receive additional state funding that is earmarked for instructional aide programs; the elimination of these aides represents $330,000 in savings per year. The board has until 45 days before the fall semester starts to make a decision. “We are in a holding pattern,” Zeidman said about the instructional aide program. 

"We have to cut today so that we can budget two years down the road. Any cuts we make are going to damage our children," Zeidman said at the meeting. "And although we vote to make a cut, we want these people back. It’s time for us to get together and figure out how to do this."

Even without the , matching T-shirts and contentious public commentary, it has been clear that many parents and staffers have felt the pain of the gulf between the school district and the community.

“I adore Gwenis and Patti,” Linwood Howe kindergarten teacher Vivian Chinelli said about the two administrators. “The fact that it’s us versus you guys is breaking my heart. The divide is killing us all.” 

For a full list of the proposed budget cuts, and the cuts that were discussed/approved Tuesday night, click the PDFs to the right.