At the March 11 district board meeting, staff will present a detailed breakdown of district expenditures, leading to the board making some key personnel and program changes for the next school year. School districts statewide face a March 15 deadline to give employees a "pink slip"—notification that they may not be rehired the following school year—and a May 15 final notification date.

The Saratoga Union School District, however, must make its program and staff cuts based on budgetary assumptions. According to Chief Business Official Ellen Tipton, Gov. Gray Davis' proposed cuts for basic aid districts could cost the district anywhere from $300 to $659 per student—a total loss of $726,000 to $1.6 million, respectively. The district's total income is $16 million.

In addition, the district faces laying off teachers, assuming the governor will also cut the program that enables schools to keep class sizes to a minimum. The district's board had previously voted to increase its K­3 classes from 20 students per teacher to 25:1, and keep grades 4­8 at a ratio of 30:1. That way, teachers will be served possible layoff notices before March 15 accordingly.

Tipton says, however, that Davis' budget proposals could take as long as September or October to be put in place and that the district's estimated property tax revenue won't be available until late summer—and yet the board must make key staffing decisions immediately.

"We have to be prepared to cover any expense increases or revenue decreases, should they occur," Tipton said.

On Feb. 25, Tipton presented to the board a plan of proposed phased cuts for both the current school year and the next.

For 2002­03, the district needs to cover a $1.5 million deficit because the actual property tax increase was less than was estimated at the beginning of the year. While the district had expected a 4 percent increase, Tipton said, the net increase—actual increase minus property reassessment values—was only 2.2 percent.

To make up the $1.5 million difference, the district proposes laying off a handful of employees, including a professional development staff person and a technology staffer; changing existing health and welfare benefits; reducing the supplies, equipment and furniture budget; and handing over management of the academic summer school to the Los Gatos­Saratoga Department of Community Education and Recreation.

Superintendent Mary Gardner said that for summer school, the department will offer two hours of instruction free for 45 elementary school and 30 Redwood Middle School students who perform below the 30th percentile academically. The free class will then be followed by two hours of instruction at a charge.

The recreation department, Gardner said, "knows that it will lose money." But Gardner said the staff felt that it was a valuable use of their resources and time.

Tipton added that the current district budget includes a supplies allocation of $300 for each new teacher. "We probably won't have any new teachers next year, so we took that out," Tipton said.

The board also looked at phased reductions to meet proposed state cuts. The tentative plan is to eliminate costs in three phases, gradually working toward the goal of reducing $300 per student. Suggested cost-cutting measures include multiple salary reductions of 1 percent each; using a portion of the district's $422,000 in reserve funds; dropping two days from employees' work schedule; and cutting back on counseling and nursing services.

Were all those cuts to be put in place, however, the district would still be short of the worst-case scenario of losing $659 per student, Tipton said.

"At that point, you know we're looking at major, major issues," Tipton said.

The $659 figure comes from the governor's proposal to take away 85 percent of excess local property taxes that school districts currently receive, combined with a loss in basic aid funding. Saratoga's projected excess local property tax for next year is $1.5 million.

The $300 option "was given out early on as a proposal," Gardner said. That amount consists of the $120 in basic aid plus $180 from various yet-undetermined sources.

Tipton will present to the board on March 11 more details on existing expenses. Eighty-six percent of the district's current budget is spent on personnel, Tipton says. With board members taking a look at a more extensive list of expenditures, "maybe we could save enough of that other 14 percent to save another teaching position," Tipton said.