Bracing for $3.14 million in state cuts, the Berkeley Unified School District Board of Education passed its 2010-11 budget and voted to essentially eliminate the district’s low-income childcare program by the end of the summer.
The board voted reluctantly but unanimously to approve layoff notices for staff of Berkeley’s Excellent Academic Road to Success before and after school program, meaning the program will be eliminated after Aug. 31 unless the state provides more funding for the program, according to District Superintendent Bill Huyett.
The board also approved notices for many classified employees affiliated with the program and preschools.
“We certainly will pull back on layoffs when and where we can,” Huyett said at the meeting. “We will continue to work on this, we do value you, we do value your program.”
Paula Phillips, president of the Berkeley Council of Classified Employees, asked the board to hold off on approving these layoff notices.
“We ask that you cut as far away from the classroom as possible,” she said.
The board will now issue layoff notices to classified employees equivalent to the funding for 41.9 full-time positions. The board also approved additional layoffs of 28.43 full-time equivalents from the child development and Berkeley’s Excellent Academic Road to Success programs.
“It is one thing to make reductions, it is another to eliminate programs,” said John Selawsky, a board director, at the meeting. “It verges on criminal in my mind.”
The board also approved the 2010-11 school year budget, which includes $3.19 million in budget reductions and revenue enhancements to meet shortfalls in general fund revenue. This budget includes the controversial elimination of district funding for one of the three vice principal positions at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, expected to save the district $107,917 next year.
With the newly approved budget, adult education will see fees double and shortened class meeting times for the elderly, adults with disabilities and life-long learning programs.