School Districts Face Devastating Budget Cuts While Working To Reopen
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — School districts across our area now facing devastating budget cuts.
With the added costs of deep cleaning and PPE to safely reopen, districts like Sacramento City Unified say it puts their schools in a daunting position.
"We are not certain how we are going to reopen, but we were a district that was already in fiscal distress," said Superintendent Jorge Aguilar.
New public health guidelines cost money and that doesn't exist for a lot of districts. That is why the California Teachers Association is now pushing for federal funding to help fill the large financial hole.
The CTA's president fears cuts could be as bad over even worse than the last recession where 33,000 educators were let go. But there's a twist because it takes bodies to effectively enforce social distancing guidelines.
READ: Sacramento City Unified School District To Hold Virtual High School Graduation Ceremonies
"Social distancing, smaller class sizes, you know that means that we are going to need more educators, we are going to need more space, we are going to need more of everything," said CTA President E. Toby Boyd.
Natomas Unified has already dipped into special funding and anticipates using some reserves.
"In cases of (an) emergency the crumble zone protects our core essential services," said Superintendent Chris Evans.
The district is just one of many across the state facing budget cuts and has already spent $52,000 on deep cleaning and $12,000 on PPE and sanitizer.
"Some of that will be four times the amount next year," Evans said.
Add in an anticipated $75,000 for antibody testing for staff and the costs of reopening adds up. It's money other districts don't have, leaving students and parents are left waiting to see if the doors at their school will reopen.
"It's a little weird, you know try to think what are we going to do next year if he doesn't go to kindergarten," one mom said.
