Also approves conditions to potentially delay consolidation
The West Sonoma County Union High School District trustees took another step forward with its current consolidation plan and the conditions of the timeline at its Nov. 30 special meeting over Zoom.
The board unanimously determined the relocation of Laguna High School students and the district office onto the El Molino High School campus and El Molino students to the Analy High School campus as categorically exempt from a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) study, freeing staff to file paperwork with the county and kick off the 35-day process to confirm the categorical exemption.
The board decided at its Nov. 23 meeting to pursue this consolidation plan as a temporary placeholder to fulfill the conditions of the Fiscal Recovery Plan the board anticipates will be required by the Sonoma County Office of Education in March upon certifying as qualified in the district’s upcoming first interim report.
The board found its current consolidation plan could demonstrate budget reductions with a categorical exemption of a CEQA study that would allow the district to avoid massive layoffs in March and buy time to explore bridge funding from the parcel tax and West County Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) measures headed to voters in March to forestall consolidation and keep community conversations alive.
The trustees scheduled a special board meeting Friday at 9 a.m. for a public hearing and resolution on the parcel tax measure to submit to the county.
Next, the board approved a resolution regarding the intention and timeline of the consolidation plan, with trustee Ted Walker casting the sole vote in opposition.
The resolution presented by Beal stated the district intends to pursue the parcel tax measure and expressed interest in supporting the TOT measure to delay school consolidation.
According to the resolution, the district will not consolidate until the 2022-2023 school year if either the district parcel tax or the transient occupancy tax pass in the March 2, 2021 election. If both measures triumph, the district fends off consolidation until the 2023-2024 school year.
Furthermore, the document states “the Governing Board reserves the right to proceed with school consolidation at an earlier date should the district experience a significant change in revenues or expenses,” defining a significant change as “financial conditions resulting in a negative impact on the district’s year end general fund balance of $750,000 or more.”
The board may also delay its timeline if the district’s finances provide a net increase of at least $750,000 in the year end general fund balance, the document stipulates.
The board voted to amend the resolution to clarify the district would require a “net” $750,000 difference in the general fund balance as a condition for accelerating as well as delaying consolidation.
“I fear this might tie the hands of our staff and future board,” Walker said before voting. He said he understood community members to have different expectations of the resolution, to delay more years and have more written guarantees. “And I can tell you after 16 years of being a school board member, there’s very few guarantees that a board can give people about a budget.”
The board’s attempts to rescue its budget in 2021 involve financial patchwork and deadline negotiations. Board president Jeanne Fernandes asked for more clarification around the funding timelines in terms of the two tax measures.
“If the votes are close and we’re not certain if it’s going to pass with the 67%, then we would have to wait until it’s certified,” Beal said. The superintendent estimated the results wouldn’t be official until the beginning of April.
“And if we’re looking to get some bridge money, let’s say from the TOT tax early, how is that going to work? Or will that help us?” Fernandes asked.
Chief business official Jeff Ogston said the measure’s funding wouldn’t take effect until July 2021, but he understood that the district may be able to access about 85% of the projected revenue of the TOT measure in a fiscal recovery plan if it passes.
Fernandes said she must have received the same email indicating “if we’re having a cash flow issue, it looks like we can ask the county treasurer for some advance funds of up to 85% of what that might be. So at least we have that as an option if we need to.”
Ogston said the district will need to explore more options than the tax measures to address the structural deficit that he calculated will grow each year because the district’s projected revenue drops as its projected expenses rise.
While the district is required to focus on the current year and the two subsequent years, Ogston said the deficit could sink by an additional $3 million by the 2023-2024 school year and that the taxes lack “long-ranging impacts.”
Trustee Angie Lewis said she just attended an all-day training on fiscal responsibility and heard a statistic that a board is supposed to spend about 11% of its time working on the budget and 65% on performance, education and programs.
“And my hope that we can get to the point where we can start focusing on what these kids need in distance learning,” she said. “It was just kind of eye-opening. I’m sitting there thinking all I’ve done since I’ve become a board member is beat the budget to death.”
Lewis said she wanted the board to steer towards long-lasting effects so the district can flow.
5th District Supervisor Lynda Hopkins said she resonated with Lewis on beating the budget to death. “You guys are constantly in survival mode, facing declining revenue and increasing costs, and these budget challenges really put you in an extraordinarily difficult leadership position,” she said.
Hopkins said there was a real need for the procedural placeholder. “You’re backed up against a wall in terms of state requirements for presenting a balanced budget, so I want to speak in support of meeting those state requirements with a procedural placeholder, but in the same breath, also encourage you to consider a strengthened resolution and moving forward with a full CEQA process in March to look at all possible options and impacts.”
She said she looked forward to doing everything she can to get both tax measures passed and unite west county to work in the interests of teachers and students.
The district stands little over a week away from Dec. 9, when Ogston will deliver the first interim budget report he and the superintendent have indicated will certify the district as qualified. The board will reorganize Dec. 16 to welcome its two new members, Julie Aiello and Laurie Ann Fadave, as trustees Diane Landry and Ted Walker end their terms.
