And it's getting to the point where many districts across the state are playing the guessing game. Some choose to adopt the budget in the summer while others, such as Newport-Mesa, opt to hold off.
"Twenty years ago, the state didn't take so long," Reed said. "But because it's been so difficult lately, we try to anticipate everything as best we can. It's hard, however, because we're at the mercy of the state."
The district's overall operating budget has seen better days, Reed said.
Last year's budget for 2009-10 was $10 million more, $232 million.
But then again, nearly 100 full-time equivalent positions had to be eliminated for next year — many of them elementary school teachers — to plug a $13.5 million shortfall in the district's finances. It's the result of state cutbacks and declining property tax revenues, Reed said.
Also, the district's adult education program, long a mainstay for English-learners, had to be dismantled for savings of more than $800,000. A sliver of the program remains, namely the High School Diploma Lab.
To lend perspective to the school district's financial situation, two years ago the district's budget for 2008-09 was $18 million more, coming in at roughly $240 million.
"There's ups and downs," Reed said. "There's the flattening out of property taxes, and there have been layoffs, so our budget has shrunk a bit, and we've had to cut expenditures."
Once the board of education approves the "tentative" budget, Reed said, it will make the final adoption sometime in September.
The district received $20 million in federal stimulus funds during the 2009-10 year.
This year, however, the federal government will only dole out only $14.4 million, Reed said.
Budget Cuts
