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San Luis Coastal School District cuts some positions, not enough

February 20, 2025

By KAREN VELIE

Facing a $6.3 million budget deficit, on Tuesday the San Luis Coastal Unified School District Board of Trustees voted to cut 20 employee positions while also agreeing not to eliminate 5.5 counseling positions.

Staff proposed passing two resolutions with the first regarding counseling, but the public and staff argued against cutting counselor positions. The resolution then failed.

The second resolution included the elimination of 12 instructional aides, an English learner instructional aide, a physical education instructional aide, a counseling aide, a before and after school aide, one and a half office clerks, an human resources technician, an executive assistant in the superintendent’s office, and a payroll specialist. The board voted unanimously to pass the second resolution.

At a board meeting on Jan. 14, district administrators discussed cutting transitional kindergarten classes. Parents and some teachers were outraged at the suggestion which was eventually discarded.

The district still needs to confront its remaining budget deficit. The goal is to meet budget reduction targets while minimizing negative impacts on teaching and learning.

District officials are also hoping to procure a donation from PG&E to help fill the funding gap.

 


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Boy does this sound familiar . Paso is doing the same thing! They are cutting the very people who work WITH students, and keeping the district level employees who make triple digit salaries and do nothing but come up with expensive, bogus “programs “ that do nothing for students’ education. They should all be fired and jailed for fraud.


5

Maybe the should go to the Unions who run the schools and ask for some of our money back along with cutting inflated salaries.


3

I agree with you Gordo, on everything except the 10%. Base reduction should be much higher, and increase from there on an individual basis up to 100% in some cases.


5

I love how they are eliminating one and a half office clerks. I wonder how that works. Cut them in half or are they firing a little person?


5

Unbelievable, why do they need MORE money from pg&e?? They already get a huge chunk of tax income from Diablo canyon + $36M over 9 years as part of the 2016 joint agreement to compensate for the lost income when Diablo was to close down. I don’t feel one but sorry for this district, you have been blessed with a very large budget that obviously you still can’t balance!


24

Its now the end of the 9 year pg&e deal and diablo canyon was supposed to be decommissioned. But since diablo canyon is still operational, they should continue to provide funding to the school district. That was the deal they made when they built diablo canyon. I believe pg&e agrees and a renewal deal is currently in the works. The board should have planned better and staff should not be let go. The children should not have to deal with the consequences of the board’s poor planning. I am glad they are not cutting T.K.


1

Salaries are the largest portion of any budget. Start with 10% reductions in the salaries of the superintendent and his management team; call it a pain penalty for letting things get this far.

Eliminate counseling positions, aide positions, lighten up on janitorial staff (the students can empty waste baskets like when I was in school) and offer a golden handshake to any staff that’s 18 months from retirement in order to get the salary savings.

Of course they will go to PG&E to do a shake down and get a “donation” that will lessen PG&E’s tax liability while kicking this can down the road.


38

They voted not to eliminate counselors, just 1 counseling aide. Janitorial staff is already at bare minimum. I’m pretty sure they are figuring it out with the children’s best interests in mind. PG&E is still operating diablo canyon so the school district is not doing a shake down when they are asking them to continue with their obligations that were originally agreed upon in order to have diablo canyon in the first place. PG&E understands this and is why they are working with the district on a funding agreement.


-2

Let’s be clear, PG&E has fulfilled its obligations to San Luis Coastal fully. The school district raked in a windfall of tax revenue from the plant when PG&E had a monopoly. When the power industry was deregulated in the late 1990’s PG&E was required to divest itself of a certain amount of its generation plants and they sold off the old plants like Morro Bay. Under the deregulation legislation PG&E was allowed to pay depreciation on its remaining assists in order to remain economically viable. The depreciation reduced their tax bills and thus the amount received by the County and by San Luis Coastal. If PG&E pulls their bacon from the fire, again, it’s done out of interest in the community, not any debt owed.


3

Maybe it’s time to call that million dollar, 2% interest, no money down, loan given to Superintendent Prater so he could buy a house suitable for his lofty position.


87

Call for payment now, why are tax dollars being used to finance over paid under worked figure heads at a school district. Don’t reelect the board members that voted for this BS.


5

It should be so obvious how to trim the budget start at the top and work down. Leave the teachers, classrooms and programs alone. There is so much fat at the top no one would even miss it. School Board will you please actually represent the taxpayers and not the union…

Can I get a Amen‼️


72

Still no serious desire to address the outrageous administration compensations or the bloated administration staffing.


65
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