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T he C oast News - I nland E dition
JUNE 25, 2021
San Marcos Unified faces budget deficit in ’23 By Tigist Layne
SAN MARCOS — The San Marcos Unified School District (SMUSD) held a governing board meeting on Tuesday, June 15 and held a public hearing on its 2021/22 budget, which shows that the district continues to face a growing budget deficit. The budget shows that the district is not facing a deficit in the current year or in 2022/23, but will face deficit spending in 2023/24. SMUSD’s total expenditures saw an $8.5 million increase from last year, which resulted in a deficit of almost $8 million. The district will be meeting its 3% reserve requirement in 2023/2024, but will have very little funding remaining, according to the report. SMUSD, which serves about 21,000 students in North County, also saw a decrease in enrollment of about 1,100 students during the COVID-19 pandemic, but according to Michael Taylor, assistant superintendent of business services, the district expects all of these students to return by 2022/23. Through other financing sources, the district narrowly avoided anticipated deficits for the current school year, but has showed a steady downward slide since before the pandemic began. In fact, the district has
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minor. Corrales is a former member of the San Diego County Democratic Party but was censured by the party in Aug 2020 after allegations were made against him of pedophilic behavior, according to a statement by the Escondido Young Democrats. During their investigation, the county Dems’ Ethics Committee evaluated seven complaints, interviewed seven witnesses and reviewed 33 pages of documentation including recordings, transcripts, social media posts and messages before deciding to remove Corrales. Eva Posner, a spokesperson for the San Diego County Democratic Party sent a statement to The Coast News via email: “Matthew Corrales is no longer a member of the San Diego County Democratic Party. He was censured last year by our members for the harass-
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been projecting a budget deficit since the 2017-2018 adopted budget. Declining enrollment, increased cost of special education and the increased contributions to pensions are all factors that school officials point to as reasons for deficits like these, along with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike other North County school districts including Oceanside and Escondido Union, however, San Marcos saw a steady increase in enrollment before COVID-19. After the start of the COVID-19 crisis, school districts across North County, including SMUSD, have seen a decrease in enrollment and are all feeling the financial impact. According to state law, if a district remains in a deficit for too long, it may lose the authority to govern itself. To avoid this, SMUSD has had to make steep cuts and, in recent years, the district has even had to dip into its reserves. The district also recently received $36 million in ESSER and ESSER III federal COVID relief funds, which is intended to assist schools in fully reopening for in-person learning. The board will give final approval of the 2021/22 budget at its June 29 board meeting. ment and intimidation of a number of women and Jewish members of our Party. “He was also roundly defeated at the ballot box and rejected in his bid to serve on our state central committee. “Our members have made our condemnation of his despicable behavior clear and he is no longer welcome in Democratic spaces. We are sure the allegations will be vetted by law enforcement and receive their day in court, and that he will be brought to justice for his pattern of dangerous, wholly unacceptable behavior.” The county Democratic Party removed Corrales from consideration of endorsement as a candidate, removed his name from the list of Democratic candidates on its website and issued a rating of unqualified. They also required him to issue an apology to the seven complainants. Despite San Diego County Democratic Party’s decision, Corrales remained a member of the Escondido Democratic Club until June 15, the same day this video was released. The Escondido Democratic Club did not remove Corrales despite multiple members voicing their concerns about Corrales’ behavior. In Jan 2021, a member of the Escondido Young Democrats (EYD), brought
COYOTES SIGHTING IN ESCONDIDO CREEK WATERSHED Escondido Creek Conservancy volunteer Ron Wilson came face to face with this coyote (Canis latrans) at the 693-acre Mountain Meadow Preserve in the watershed region which will never be developed and is now protected in perpetuity for the benefit of the native plants and animals of California. Coyotes, which are native to North America, generally shy away from interactions with humans, but as humans and wild lands overlap, they are often spotted near trails, ponds or creek tributaries in the watershed. Photo by Ron Wilson
the issue of Corrales’ harassment toward themself and others to the Escondido Democratic Club (EDC) executive board, but the party still refused to remove Corrales. After the release of the CC Unit footage, the Escondido Young Democrats released a statement calling for the Escondido Democratic Club executive board to resign: “(Escondido Young Democrats) has known for months about Corrales’ propensity for harassment and incivility towards those he disagrees with. We condemn his harassment, as well as his alleged actions in the CC Unit Video. “Some members of the (Escondido Democratic Club) Executive Board failed to act to terminate Corrales’ membership thereby exposing their members to months of vitriolic attacks. This is in stark contrast to the leadership of the (San Diego County Democratic Party) and other Democratic organizations where decisive action was taken to separate Corrales from their membership. “Therefore, we strongly urge the (Escondido Democratic Club) Executive Board Members who refused to take action to resign effective immediately.” Corrales ran for the Vallecitos Water District in Nov. 2020 but was defeated, after which he
was no longer a registered Democrat and voted for Republican Congressman Darrell Issa, according to the Escondido Young Democrats’ statement. However, it remains unclear how the group came to know Corrales’ private voting record. Despite this, Corrales remained a member of the Escondido Democratic Club until last week. “They haven’t been taking steps to address our frustration in a way that’s meaningful or authentic,” said Justin Domecillo, a senator at Escondido Young Democrats. “That has been personally frustrating for me because I personally think that their inaction enables, and I wish that they would follow EYD’s example of publicly condemning this person.” An Escondido Democratic Club representative said they do not wish to comment on the matter, but said that Corrales is no longer a member. A spokesperson at Sweetwater Union High School District confirmed that Corrales was a substitute teacher but “separated from the district in 2009” and “is no longer affiliated with the district.” Sweetwater Union High School District declined to comment further for this story. Corrales could not be reached for comment and has deactivated all of his social media accounts.
Escondido to get more than $38M in new relief By Tigist Layne
ESCONDIDO – The Escondido City Council met on Wednesday, June 9, to hear an update on its Business Recovery Strategy and discuss the American Rescue Plan Act funding that the city will soon receive. The council also gave final approval to the 2021-22 operating budget and capital improvement budget. The $117.6 million budget has increased by roughly $9.5 million compared with the 2020-21 budget, and includes a $2.7 million increase in the city’s police budget and a $2.1 million increase in the city’s public works department. The budget calls for reinstating six positions in the police department, five officers and a dispatcher in the COPPS (Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving) unit. It also includes roughly $540,000 to increase traffic safety. The budget also shows that the city faced a budget deficit of $8 million in FY 2021/22, recovered by the use of one-time funds, a $13 million deficit by FY 2023/24 and further deficits continuing over the next 15 years, according to the report. The structural budget gap is expected to exceed
$176 million over the next 18 years. According to the staff report, Escondido has been allocated $38,808,509 as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. It is still unclear what exactly the city will be able to use these funds for, but more information will become available on July 16. “Until revenue is increased on an on-going and structural basis, such as through an increased sales tax measure, the city must continue to rely on shortterm, one-time resources to continue operations and avoid drastic cuts to city services,” the staff report read. The council also heard a report on the city’s Business Recovery Strategy, which was initially adopted in May 2020. The plan implemented temporary regulatory and non-regulatory measures such as permit extensions, off-site sale and delivery of alcohol and temporary signage relief to assist local businesses that had to alter their operations due to COVID-19 regulations. City staff will return to the council at a future date to decide if and when these measures will be scaled back as the COVID-19 emergency comes to an end.
