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LBUSD weighs science camp, tutoring, sports for $24M in cutbacks
By Kevin Butler, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/30/2009 09:51:29 PM PDT
LONG BEACH - The Long Beach Board of Education on Monday discussed suspending an outdoor science camp, reducing after-school tutoring at elementary schools and cutting funding for middle-school sports programs as part of a plan to trim $24 million from its budget. The five-member board did not take any action on the list of proposed cuts, which would involve eliminating about 50 non-teaching positions. In addition, about 29 vacant positions would remain unfilled. Board members are expected to vote on budget cuts at their next meeting April 7. It's unclear whether the elimination of positions would result in layoffs because employees could get other jobs in the district, according to Chris Steinhauser, superintendent of the Long Beach Unified School District. LBUSD officials say that they could save $945,000 next fiscal year by suspending the long-standing outdoor science camp currently attended by fifth graders. The district started the program in 1948 at Camp Hi-Hill in the Angeles National Forest. After district officials closed Camp Hi-Hill in October, citing fire risk, the fifth-graders instead have been attending Camp Oakes, a YMCA camp in the San Bernardino Mountains. Parent Lauri Halderman, who has two elementary school-age children, urged board members to keep the program going. It eases fifth-graders' transition to middle school and teaches children problem-solving skills, she added. "This program provides an educational opportunity which cannot be replicated in any classroom," she said. If the program is suspended, the camp teachers would provide science lessons to fourth- and fifth-grade classes next school year instead, Steinhauser said. The district also is considering for next fiscal year: Reducing the tutoring that elementary students receive after school and during intercession. Only children who are in serious academic trouble would receive such help. Cutting $65,000 in funds for middle school sports program. To cope, schools could opt to eliminate some sports programs or shorten playing seasons, Steinhauser said. Eliminating 35 custodial positions. Twenty-four of those positions are currently vacant, and 11 would be reduced through attrition, officials said. Reducing the number of assistant principals. Cutting $3.8 million from various departments, including human resources, the Personnel Commission, financial services and the board of education. State lawmakers recently lifted spending restrictions on certain education funding sources to give districts more flexibility to shore up their budgets. The LBUSD plans to take advantage of that by redirecting nearly $6 million from formerly restricted programs to help address its budget hole. Specific details on which programs would lose funding as a result of that transfer will be discussed at the next board meeting, LBUSD officials said. If approved by the board, the $6 million shift would reduce the discretionary money annually given to school sites, Steinhauser said.
kevin.butler@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1308
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