Patch Primer: Albany School Finances

2011-12 Budget Snapshot from the Superintendent

We have lost $4.7 million in state funding since 2008.

We will tap into our reserves to the tune of approximately $400,000 this fiscal year. Our reserves are at 14 percent.

California is facing a $3 billion deficit.

AUSD expected to receive $5,220 per student this fiscal year. This is $1,285 less than the actual revenue limit of $6,505.

Parcel taxes and donations bring in about $6 million, plus grants and bond funds. This is 21% of our budget. Parcel taxes provide $5.6 million to AUSD. Measure I is $151 per parcel for five years. Measure J is $565 per parcel.

Donations totaled $460,000 (AEF, SchoolCare, AMF, Boosters). SchoolCare is $254,000 for this year.

EXPENDITURES

Salaries for certificated $16,955,572  (49%)
Salaries for classified $4,270,826  (12%)
Benefits for both groups 8,257,394  (24%)
Books and supplies 1,760,794  (5%)
Operating expenses 3,506,142 (10%)
APPROXIMATE TOTAL: $34,750,728

REVENUES

State funding (75%)
Revenue limit: $19,782,789
Other state funds: $5,562,408

Local revenues  (21%) 
     $7,037,710 

Federal revenues (4%)
     $1,301,386  

TOTAL REVENUES: $33,684,293

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[Editor's Note: The following article was written in July 2010 by Barbara Grady]

As school districts around California grapple with how to handle yet another year of reduced funding, some districts plan to close schools and lay off teachers. The Albany Unified School District does not expect to do either, though it anticipates a hit of about $1.2 million, or about 3 percent of its $35 million budget. This will bring the cumulative loss in state funding to $5.2 million since 2009-10.

Albany expects to maintain programs at its without teacher layoffs or furloughs and with few program cuts. The district will tap into its reserves and receive new revenues from a $149 parcel tax Albany voters approved in November.

CALIFORNIA EDUCATION FUNDING
With California facing a $19 billion budget deficit, few people expect public education to be spared. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget would cut about $1.5 billion from current K-12 funding. That's much less than last year, when the state chopped education spending by about $5.8 billion. But most districts are still reeling from those cuts.

The legislature has yet to agree to the cuts the governor proposed, but neither has it come up with an alternative. School districts are required to pass a budget June 15 for the following school year. So, even though the state has not settled on its budget, the Albany Unified School District and most every other school district in California have hammered out plans for the coming year.

ALBANY'S SITUATION
Albany voters passed an emergency school parcel tax last November. (A parcel tax is a special tax school districts use to fund teacher salaries, books, materials and supplies, computers and other equipment, and for art, music and sports programs. Parcel taxes are typically levied as a flat rate per parcel, or residence, though some districts levy a rate at a fixed amount per square foot of taxable land.)

As it turns out, that tax will almost make up the amount the district expects to lose, district officials said, in new state cuts of $1.2 million. The new tax will be collected for the first time in December.

Superintendent Marla Stephenson said Albany made $4 million in cuts last year. As a result, district officials said they are reluctant to cut this year. Instead, the district plans to spend the new parcel tax money and some of its 9 percent reserve to maintain most programs and restore some that were lost last year.

To absorb last year's losses, the district laid off teachers, custodial staff, school secretaries, classroom aides, library technicians and others. The district lost 17 teaching positions. Classes became more crowded, growing from 20 to 24 children per class in K-3, and often to 35 students at the high school. Albany Middle School stopped offering a seventh period for electives. Albany High School not only lost some electives and a guidance counselor, but also half of its sports budget and some of its music program – until parents stepped in and restored them with donations.

To absorb proposed cuts for the new school year, the district's plan, which the Board of Education approved in June, is to spend new parcel tax revenues and about $700,000 from its reserve fund, bringing the reserve margin down to 7 percent. Amid last year's uncertainty, when the state repeatedly revised its budget and imposed mid-year cuts, Albany Unified and many school districts built up a healthy reserve to cushion themselves from sudden losses.

State law requires public school districts to maintain at least a 3 percent reserve, but Laurie Harden, assistant superintendent for business services in Albany, said many school districts are up to 10 or 11 percent to avoid the consequences of going into the red.

WHAT IT WILL LOOK LIKE IN THE CLASSROOM
Staffing will increase slightly for special education and English Language Learners programs as well as for campus security at all school sites, Stephenson said, but some administrative staff positions will be cut. 

• In September, classes should be the same size or, in some cases, smaller.
• Classes in kindergarten through third grade will continue at up to 25 students per class.
• The middle school will get back its seventh period so students can begin language classes in seventh grade.
• And seven periods will be maintained at the high school.
• At the high school, where teachers had agreed to a one-year increase of their student load, to 165 kids, the district plans to pull back to 150 students per teacher (or about five daily classes, each with 30 students).

WHERE THINGS STAND
Albany expects to receive $4,950 per student in state funding this year, Harden said.

• That is $1,412 less than students received two years ago, before the state budget crisis began.
• When combined with supplemental income from city parcel taxes and federal funds, the per pupil revenue available for 2010-11 will be about $5,200.
• By comparison, some states in the Northeast, such as New York and New Jersey, spend more than twice that amount per pupil.
• New York spent $13,238 per pupil last year.

LOCAL GENEROSITY OFFSETS SOME LOSSES
Albany residents have voted in parcel taxes to support schools, and regularly donate money to education-related fundraising groups. Between the two, residents will bring in about $6 million for 2010-11, the district figures.

In addition to voting for last November's emergency parcel tax, Albany residents voted to renew existing parcel taxes, one of which would have expired in two years.

• In all, these taxes bring in about $704 per house, and provide $5.2 million. 
• Community donations from Albany fundraising organizations bring in another $422,000. 
• Money from parcel taxes and donations, plus miscellaneous local grants and bond funds, accounts for 19 percent of the school district budget, according to the district.

DONATIONS TO COMMUNITY GROUPS ARE KEY
In last year's budget crisis, parents and community members donated in record amounts to school fundraising organizations including Albany SchoolCARE and the Albany Education Foundation, Albany Music Fund and Albany Athletic Boosters. These organizations' collective contributions of $422,000 to the district allowed it to maintain many programs.

• The Albany Athletic Boosters provided nearly half the athletic budget for Albany High last year.
• The Albany Music Fund restored music to the elementary schools, and certain music programs to the middle school and high schools, with $60,000 in parent contributions.
• Albany SchoolCARE raised a record $315,000 for 2009-10, and restored portions of several teaching positions, along with various programs. It provided salaries for reading specialists and art teachers at the elementary schools; a guidance counselor; four electives and noon-time activities at the middle school; and five electives, a college and career advisor and a library aide at Albany High School.
• The Albany Education Foundation awarded more than 100 grants to educators in 2008-09. Grants helped new teachers set up classrooms; support special projects; offset the cost of field trips; and helped with other school-related expenses. Since 1995, the group has given more than $490,000, according to its website.

But, with the current economic challenges, all the groups are finding it tougher to raise money. SchoolCARE donations, at $200,000, are down a third from what had been donated by this time last year, which means some programs might not be offered come fall.

PARCEL TAX DETAILS
Measure I, passed by voters in November 2009, taxes residents at $149 per parcel for five years. The tax goes toward the restoration of teaching positions and support services; music and arts courses; English language learning services; campus safety and security services; library services; counseling; and reading, writing and math support.

• It was an emergency tax to get Albany through the state budget crisis and economic recession. 
• Businesses are taxed at a rate of 3 cents per square foot or $149 on each parcel, whichever is greater.
• Low-income taxpayers, along with homeowners age 65 and older, are exempt.
• It was created to provide roughly $1 million annually.

Measure J, also passed last November, combined three existing parcel taxes from 1987, 1999 and 2005, and exempted senior citizens and low-income residents from participation.

• The Measure J tax is $555 per parcel per year. 
• Businesses are taxed at a rate of 11 cents per square foot or $555 on each parcel, whichever is greater.
• Measure J renewed one of the existing parcel taxes, which was set to expire in 2012.
• It maintains funding for science, technology, athletics and foreign language courses, including smaller-than-state-average class sizes; library and mental health services at every site; and safe facilities throughout the district.

EXPENDITURES
Personnel – or people – are the biggest cost to a school district. In Albany personnel costs are 84 percent of the budget.

• Salaries of teachers, guidance counselors and others with education certifications: $16,481,934 (50 percent)
• Salaries for positions such as secretaries, janitors, classroom aides, technology personnel: $3,660,390 (11 percent)
• Employee benefits for both groups: $7,613,252 (23 percent)
• Books and supplies: $2,117,918 (7 percent)
• Operating expenses, such as maintenance, utilities: $2,841,775 (9 percent)
• Approximate total: $32,715,269

REVENUE SOURCES
State funding: 64 percent
     $18,470,000 from revenue limit sources
     $1,415,300 from other state funds

Local revenues: 19 percent
     $5,964,962

Federal revenues: 17 percent
    $5,143,981

Approximate Total
    $30,994,243