Shoreline Unified School District is engaged in difficult conversations about how to trim its $18 million budget as inflation and salary increases drive up costs and an infusion of pandemic-related revenue runs out.
Over the strenuous objections of teachers, the school board has raised the possibility of cutting teachers aides, several of whom play an important role as translators at schools with large Spanish-speaking populations. Aides also played a key support role during the pandemic, teachers argue.
Yet without budget cuts, the district will be forced to start spending its reserve funds to meet its expenses, Superintendent Adam Jennings told the Light. “This could become very problematic by the 2024-2025 school year unless we begin taking steps to rein in our spending,” he said.
At last month’s school board meeting, the district’s chief budget officer, Alice Enochs, said the consequences could be dire for the district’s financial health. According to current projections, the district will run a $1.7 million deficit in the 2023-2024 school year and a $1.6 million deficit in the 2024-2025 school year.
Shoreline Unified stretches across a large geographic expanse, from Olema in the south to Bodega Bay in the north. Enrollment in the district’s five schools ranges from just 24 at Bodega Bay Elementary to 144 at Tomales High.
Eighty percent of the district’s budget covers salaries and related expenses for teachers and other school employees, Mr. Jennings said. All employees received a 3.5 percent salary increase this year and last year, and they are scheduled to receive a 3 percent increase next year. Meanwhile, a $1.3 million infusion of state and federal aid provided during the pandemic is running out.
“The one-time funding that was received during the pandemic is ending and that is the primary reason our revenue is decreasing next year,” Mr. Jennings said, adding that the district was discussing concerns about deficit spending before the infusion of Covid funds.
With a large percentage of the budget devoted to salaries and benefits, it is difficult to avoid the possibility of staff cuts, Mr. Jennings said. Those cuts would likely affect classified staff, which includes teachers aides, bus drivers, janitors, food service workers and secretaries.
The Shoreline budget committee, composed of board members, teachers and parents, is putting together a budget proposal to present to the board at a June 15 meeting. The board will vote on it a week later.
The Marin County Office of Education recommends that community-funded districts like Shoreline, which rely primarily on property taxes, keep at least 17 percent of their operating budget in reserve for handling unexpected expenses or revenue shortfalls.
“Reserves are critically important,” said Kate Lane, deputy superintendent of the education office. “If you don’t have sufficient reserves, you don’t have the ability to withstand economic shocks or uncertainties.”
At the end of the current school year, the Shoreline reserve will total 22.8 percent. Without cuts or revenue increases, the reserve will decline to 16 percent by the end of the next school year and to just 9 percent by the end of 2024-2025.
Last school year, Shoreline had the second highest per-pupil funding in the county: $30,500. But unlike most of Marin’s 17 districts, Shoreline offers universal preschool and bus service.
Ms. Lane said it is typical for rural districts to spend more per student because they don’t have the same economies of scale as larger districts. It is costlier to serve students scattered across a large, sparsely populated area. And unlike students in urban districts, Shoreline students can’t take public transportation to school, even though they must travel longer distances.
“Small organizations can’t operate as efficiently as large organizations,” Ms. Lane said. “You’re operating five schools for 500 students.”
At the March school board meeting, Kelsy Henke, a special education teacher at West Marin School, urged the board to avoid cuts that impact classrooms, such as the elimination of teachers aides. “I am disappointed this district continues to create administrative positions and agrees to consultation contracts only to panic and then take away daily supports that our students rely on and deserve,” she said.
The district has sought budget suggestions from community members on its website in recent weeks. “We are really trying to work with all of our educational partners right now to solicit ideas and input about our priorities,” Mr. Jennings said.
Ms. Enochs reviewed the suggestions and comments and posted them on the website as they came in. Several people stressed the importance of offering music, art and physical education classes, and avoiding cuts that directly impact students and teachers. Others questioned the wisdom of making immediate cuts based on financial forecasts that could change with fluctuations in the economy.
“Budgetary decisions should be based on more than just numbers on a page, and the further removed people are from the students, the more they seem to forget the purpose of the budget: to make sure our community’s kids get the education and opportunities they deserve,” one person wrote.
A teacher posted: “Instead of cutting personnel that work most closely with our students, I think the district should take time to look more deeply into structural changes, such as closing facilities/school sites that require an exorbitant amount of financial resources.”
Several people suggested closing Bodega Bay Elementary, the district’s smallest school, and merging it with Tomales Elementary. Bodega Bay is located on the northern edge of the district and requires special education teachers to travel long distances.
Shoreline’s board meets next on Thursday, April 20 at 6 p.m. at Tomales Elementary School.