School District Pins Its Hopes on State Budget : Education: Funding crisis has cut wide swath in programs. But superintendent sees chance for some restorations if news from Sacramento is good.

Culver City schools Supt. Curtis Rethmeyer is waiting anxiously for what he hopes is good news.

Facing the worst cutbacks he has seen in 13 years as head of the school district, Rethmeyer is waiting for the state budget to pass so he’ll know exactly how much money he can count on for the coming school year.

Rethmeyer hopes he will be pleasantly surprised and can undo some of the damage done in a tentative budget adopted earlier this month.

In that budget, the district drastically cut back on personnel and educational programs in order to close a projected $2-million deficit for the 1991-92 school year.

The shortfall was brought on largely by the huge budget deficit faced by the state, which provides about 85% of the district’s revenue.

“It’s going to be a difficult year,” Rethmeyer said in his modest office in the red brick administration building. “We’re going to do what we can to make this work, but teachers just aren’t going to be able to give students the individual attention that they have in the past.”

The tentative budget outlines $15.5 million in expenditures from the unrestricted general fund, a cut of 12% across the board.

Thirty certificated positions were eliminated, including teachers, counselors, teaching specialists and two assistant principals. Two nursing jobs were cut, leaving one school nurse for the entire district.

An additional 80 non-teaching positions were eliminated, including teacher’s aids, secretaries, clerks and school security guards.

Fewer teachers will mean larger classes for Culver City High School students. The average class is expected to increase by two students, to 32.2. A 20% cut in athletic programs translates to fewer coaches and making do with old equipment.

The district’s indoor pool will be drained and swimming classes canceled at all grade levels. Interscholastic swimming and water polo teams will be dropped.

At the elementary schools, a maximum average class size of 29.2 is mandated by state law, so getting the ax instead were a variety of highly regarded educational programs and the specialist instructors that ran them.

Orchestras and choirs at all four elementary schools were eliminated. A remedial program that helped children improve their reading skills and keep up with their classmates was cut entirely. All the physical education teachers were let go.

Other programs were severely scaled back, including the gifted program, library services and English as a second language instruction.

Money was not set aside for new school equipment, such as desks and microscopes, and throughout the district, supplies and maintenance services were scaled back.

The good news is that the tentative budget is based on projected revenue from the state and does not include extra money that may be allocated under Proposition 98. Gov. Pete Wilson had wanted to withhold Proposition 98 money.

Once the state budget is passed, the district may get $200,000 to $500,000 more than it expected from the state, Rethmeyer said. There is also an outside chance of a leftover balance of $100,000 in this year’s general fund that could be carried over to the next year.

Of whatever extra money becomes available, however, about two thirds will go to the district’s anemic reserve budget, used for unexpected expenses throughout the school year. State law mandates the reserve be kept at 3% of total expenditures, or about $600,000. Currently, the reserve fund has $74.

If there is any extra money left after that, Rethmeyer and the school board will begin reinstating cuts, which they have organized into a list according to priority.

At the top of the list are instructors for reading, English as a second language and art. The district’s public relations officer is next, followed by a music teacher, money for athletic programs and elementary school physical education teachers.

Way down the list, in 29th place, is the indoor pool. It would cost $146,000 to save and most likely will remain closed for the year unless outside money can be found.

“That’s the equivalent of five or six teachers,” Rethmeyer said. The swimming programs “are just not really high priority compared to the basics, such as reading, writing and math.”

There were several reasons for the projected budget deficit. State funding this year did not include a cost of living increase, but stayed about the same as last year, said Jim Crawford, district business manager. At the same time, costs kept going up.

Also, the district had been depleting its reserves for the past decade, since the passage of Proposition 13, until it finally had to start cutting programs this year.

Other factors included falling interest rates, a decline in state lottery revenues and slow but steadily declining enrollments.

“Cities have a lot of options when faced with shortfalls,” Rethmeyer said. “Schools have very little power to raise revenue. Their only option is to just cut back on expenses.”

There is, however, a revenue-raising scheme in the works. A parcel tax on the November ballot may bring $1 million annually to the district. Seniors would be exempt from the flat tax of $98 per parcel of land.

But, Rethmeyer said, “that’s an uphill battle--getting a two-thirds vote,” adding that the money could restore only a few programs and wouldn’t be in time to help during the coming school year.

The district already has made one plea to the community for help. Last May, the school board sent a letter to parents explaining that the projected deficit translated to $500 per student, and if that much were donated, the shortfall could be erased, Knopf said. Parents responded with $39,000 in donations, and the money will probably be used to restore some remedial reading instructors.

The final budget will be adopted in September.