3 FEATURE
OPINION
8 CENTERSPREAD
Dhth macarons
teens’ social media restrictions
9-12 GRAPHICS
20
guide to local food trucks
homecoming
SMOKE SIGNAL
THE
MISSION SAN JOSE HIGH SCHOOL
VOL. 60, NO. 2
October 18, 2024
41717 PALM AVENUE, FREMONT, CA 94539
investigative report: fusd budget deficit
voices “I can’t say we’ve seen a reduction of funds per se, I get a certain amount every year … it’s based partially off of student enrollment ... It is outside of my control how much staffing we get, but we always staff and create our courses, our master schedule, based on students’ choices on what they want to take.” — Principal Amy Perez
By Rajorshi Chatterjee, Scarlett Huang, Kaiwei Parks & Michelle Qu Staff Writers FUSD plans to cut back on school spending to account for a $30 million decrease in funding. The new budget would eliminate approximately $35 million in unrestricted spending. Implications of this include potential teacher layoffs, reductions in school supplies, and course reductions with regard to specific programs, such as language or art. This spending deficit was a result of the expiration of funding during the coronavirus pandemic, declining district-wide enrollment, and increased staffing costs. The plan for creating a reduced budget was announced during a special 30-minute FUSD Board Meeting by Superintendent Erik Burmeister, Associate Superintendent Danny Hillman, and Director of Budget James Arcala on September 18. The plan is set to be presented in January 2025. The Smoke Signal interviewed teachers and district officials to explore the steps being taken and the potential impact this would have on the student body and staff.
background
Faculty & Staff Impact Some smaller budget cuts among the staff and faculty will be achieved by reducing the number of optional Professional Development days — which require money for travel and out-of-work salary — and switching to free educational software alternatives. Furthermore, 85% of the FUSD unrestricted budget is paid toward teacher salaries and benefits. Burmeister estimated that if budgets are cut proportionally, approximately 200 district employees will be laid off. “Cuts are never easy … [and] the impact will hurt,” Burmeister said. Many other districts in CA, such as San Francisco, Sonoma, and San Diego school districts, are experiencing similar budget deficits as FUSD, and they partially addressed their issues by having their budget cuts and staff layoffs in the previous year. FUSD was able to push back the budget by a year, but now they face the tough decision of deciding what cuts to make. In the near future, due to declining enrollment rates, the ratio of staff to students at FUSD schools is predicted to increase. “We’ve been reducing staffing slowly over the years, but I think we’re at this point where we just can’t afford what we need for our operations based on a lot of the services we provide … we’re going to start aligning our staffing with enrollment,” Arcala said. In order to maintain the current number of integral support staff such as counselors, other jobs such as librarians and paraeducators are put at a higher risk of being cut. However, which specific positions would be affected is still under debate. “A strategy we might take is … eliminating unnecessary positions that we do not need to move forward, while still maintaining FUSD core values of quality education,” Arcala said. As a result of budget cuts, class sizes may increase, prompting concern from teachers over the difficulty of managing large classes. “The budget cuts are very much impacting World Language Departments … I have a class of 36 students, and [combined] level classes … that are impossible to teach,” French Teacher Herveline Sartori said.
FUSD receives most of its funding from the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) sources, which largely depend on enrollment and attendance-dependent state government funding. As the greatest source of funding for FUSD, totaling approximately $389 million for the 2023-24 school year, LCFF sources are important to ensure FUSD has the legally required allocation of funds. However, in the 2024-25 school year, only $383 million has been allocated, an approximately $5 million decrease. This decrease in funding is exacerbated by lackluster attendance from students. For every day a student misses school, FUSD loses $65 in funding, a problem for FUSD and California schools as a whole. Chronic absenteeism has more than doubled since 2019, increasing from 12% to 25% in the 2022-23 school year. Additionally, several one-time relief funds are running dry. The expiration of one-time grants, such as the COVID-19 Relief Fund and the Learning Recovery Fund, will result in a loss of $85.5 million of funding. School districts across CA received the COVID-19 Relief Fund, which will be fully spent inbetween 2025-26 under the current budget. Since these resources will no longer be available, FUSD will have to find other means to supplement its budget.
future steps FUSD has set an approximate timeline for future steps in reducing its expenses in the coming months. In October, community town halls will be held online through Zoom and in person at MSJ, Warwick Elementary, and Fremont Adult & Continuing Education to collect input from stakeholders involved in this issue including teachers, SURFBoardE student representatives, district council members, parents, and other relevant parties. At the same time, principals will lead department discussions with staff to gather further input. In November, Burmeister and Business Services, a branch of FUSD that directly works with finance and logistics at the district level, will plan reduction scenarios. On December 2, a special Board meeting will be held where District staff will introduce initial reduction options to the Board. After receiving direction and feedback, final reduction tiers, in order of least to most severe cuts, will be presented on January 8.
FUSD budget
(M = million) 600 M
500 M
student impact Due to the need for enrollment and better attendance, schools have implemented stricter attendance policies. At MSJ, tardy and absent student policies have been enforced with consequences such as detention and Saturday school. In addition, Assistant Principal Beth Bonomo announced in a StudentSquare post on September 17 that students with more than 10 instances of unexcused absences or truancy “may lead to the loss of social privileges including Prom, Senior Cruise, Spring Fling, etc.” Meanwhile, FUSD is considering cutting back on materials spending inside the classroom. They plan to opt for less expensive alternatives to online software, such as a downgrade from ThoughtExchange to Google Forms. However, in the Board meeting, Arcala emphasized that FUSD hopes students’ quality of education will not be affected by any budget reductions. “We are trying to find what we could survive without … and still provide quality programs and experiences for our students,” Arcala said. This is a sentiment reflected by the MSJ administration. “I think the largest hit potentially could be a decrease in course offerings … we’re still in the process of collecting data,” Principal Amy Perez said.
Budget
400 M
300 M
200 M
100 M
2014-15
2015-16
2016-17
2017-18
2018-19
2019-20
2020-21
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2022-23 2023-24 2024-25
School Year
“We have already addressed [the budget cuts] as we have reviewed the budget and, we'll continue through bargaining to present offers, and hopefully the district will present genuine offers to us as well, and we can come to an agreement.” — FUDTA High School Director Lane Melcic
“One of the biggest parts of our budget is special education, and it is not a fully funded program by the federal and state governments. So, there's a promise from them that this was a fund at a certain level for special ed, but [the federal government] isn’t fulfilling those promises.” — Director of Budget James Arcala GRAPHICS BY NEWS EDITOR CATHERINE QIN
ONLINE
THIS MONTH
www.thesmokesignal.org
ALBUM REVIEW: MOON MUSIC On October 4, British rock band Coldplay is releasing its 10th studio album Moon Music. This album is the sequel to From Earth with Love. Read the Smoke Signal’s review online.
FUSD BOARD ELECTORAL RACE The two candidates for the FUSD District 4 representatives are a recent college-bound Irvington High School graduate and a Fremont parent. Learn more about the election and each campaign on our website.
FOR MORE COVERAGE, VISIT www.THESMOKESIGNAL.ORG