{"id":3746,"date":"2020-05-29T04:20:43","date_gmt":"2020-05-29T04:20:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maderatribustg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=3746"},"modified":"2026-05-13T18:27:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T18:27:19","slug":"madera-unified-looking-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/madera-unified-looking-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"Madera Unified looking ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"

What will budget cuts mean for school district?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now that Madera Unified has had time to digest California Governor Gavin Newsom\u2019s revised budget, which was issued this month, Superintendent Todd Lile has kept his promise to keep the district\u2019s employees informed on how the state\u2019s $54.3 billion budget deficit will affect them for the remainder of this year and for the 2020-2021 school year.<\/p>\n

Last week, Lile sent three separate messages to all employees sharing the district\u2019s financial picture to the extent he knows it. In doing so, he attempted to answer three questions: What effect will Newsom\u2019s budget cuts have on the MUSD budget; what should the district expect for the 2020-21 school year; and how are we going to get through this?<\/p>\n

Lile\u2019s short answer was, \u201cWe will survive this \u2014 together.\u201d His long answer was a little more complicated.<\/p>\n

For starters, Lile said the state\u2019s $54.3 billion short fall will mean that California\u2019s K-12 schools will suffer a $19 billion decrease in funding. According to Lile, this situation represents \u201cunprecedented challenges\u201d to Madera Unified.<\/p>\n

The Governor\u2019s new budget includes a 10 percent cut in state funding. This is particularly crucial for Madera Unified because slightly more than 80 percent of its total budget is dedicated to staff salaries, health and welfare benefits, and pension obligations. That means with the 10 percent reduction in funding, the district has only 10 percent left on which it can operate.<\/p>\n

This 10 percent reduction equals $23 million for Madera Unified and forces the district to use reserves to prevent layoffs and furloughs.<\/p>\n

Additionally, while the Governor allowed a 2.31 percent cost of living adjustment, it is being withheld for the 2020-21 school year. So there will be no COLA, which is used to meet all cost increases from utilities, pensions, materials, salaries, health benefits \u2014 everything.<\/p>\n

Further, cash deferrals are expected to start this June. This means the $23 million payment from the state that was supposed to be received in June, will not come until July. Therefore, the district will have to pay employees, using reserve funds for that pay period. This reduces MUSD\u2019s cash balance from $55 million down to $32 million in June and puts the district dangerously close to not meeting payroll if another difficult month were imposed from Sacramento.<\/p>\n

Prudent planning has kept the district solvent and strong, which means that its reserve will help keep it afloat during this crisis. It has also allowed the district to attempt to build schools to accommodate decades of overcrowding and the persistent increase in enrollment.<\/p>\n

The bottom line in Lile\u2019s message to employees is \u201cwe do not anticipate that any layoffs of contracted employees will be necessary in 2020-21. This, of course, is predicated on there being no further cuts from the state or some unforeseen financial disruption.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lile noted that trustees are attempting to find that delicate balance between protecting students, staff, and the community on the one hand and maintaining fiscal stability on the other. He concedes that information and data can change and could force more changes in the near future.<\/p>\n

In attempting to share what employees could expect for the 2020-21 school year, Lile wrote that MUSD will be able to retain all employees who have been offered letters of intent and are currently on contract. \u201cWe anticipate no lay-offs at this time,\u201d he said, but \u201cthe 2021-22 school year will be more challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lile was emphatic in his prognostication that everybody is in for a \u201cgreat deal of change.\u201d He said cuts will be made as far away from the students as possible to protect the classroom experience.<\/p>\n

Professional travel and some student travel will be limited or possibly eliminated. Devices for distance learning will be prioritized as will a stronger community network to connect all students to broadband internet.<\/p>\n

Safety procedures and protocols will be continued to decrease the risk of community transmission of COVID-19.<\/p>\n

As for what the \u201cnew normal\u201d year will look like, the district needs to be ready to \u201cre-engage school in whatever form is deemed safe enough to proceed.\u201d Lile said the Educational Services Department is \u201ccurrently working to create multiple plans for reopening school in the fall. Alternative planning and scheduling will continue with a variety of potential scenarios reflected. These scenarios will include digital learning platforms for staff, students and parents.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lile says the employee unions will have multiple opportunities \u201cto consult on these plans and schedules to insure the best working conditions and expectations possible for our students and staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lile said schools may have to temporarily close for a few days or weeks depending upon recommendations of public health officials. Personal Protective Equipment and sanitation supplies are now being stockpiled for use. Meal distributions will need to be flexible to provide students two meals a day.<\/p>\n

While the district is working overtime to meet the health and financial crises, it is \u201cpushing hard\u201d to convince the state to make some adjustments in its expectations of what constitutes a \u201ctypical school year.\u201d Some of these include:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Funding based upon enrollment rather than Average Daily Attendance. <\/p>\n

\u2022 Loosening of independent study regulations. <\/p>\n

\u2022 Specialized equipment for sanitization and protection in the classroom or work stations. <\/p>\n

\u2022 Flexibility in the number of school days required. <\/p>\n

\u2022 Flexibility in K-8 class sizes beyond current statutory levels without penalty.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Flexibility in physical education, graduation requirements, CTE completion, fine arts instruction, athletic participation, etc.<\/p>\n

Lile\u2019s cautious optimism is set against a backdrop of realism. \u201cThis next year will be very challenging for us all,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWe will need to learn new ways to connect\u2026 and collaborate. It would be foolish to be anything but clear and honest. Next year will probably be the most difficult we\u2019ve faced in our careers.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What will budget cuts mean for school district? Now that Madera Unified has had time to digest California Governor Gavin Newsom\u2019s revised budget, which was issued this month, Superintendent Todd Lile has kept his promise to keep the district\u2019s employees informed on how the state\u2019s $54.3 billion budget deficit will affect them for the remainder […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_angie_page":false,"page_builder":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[37,39,50],"class_list":["post-3746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-finance","tag-government","tag-schools"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3746\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maderatribune.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}