December 22, 2024

San Marcos Unified School District (Source SD UT)

San Marcos trustees adopted a $145 million budget that leaves the district with a poor outlook for its reserves.

The district is projecting $134.8 million in revenue if the tax initiative passes, said Gary Hamels, assistant superintendent for business services. If the taxes are rejected, that number will be lower by $8.2 million and lead to midyear cuts for the second straight year, Hamels said.

The budget will deplete reserves by $6.7 million, a district report said. Deeper cuts will have to be made in the 2013-14 school year, the report said.

The 2012-13 spending plan includes a 3.26 percent reduction for furlough days for administrative employees. The district has declared an impasse in negotiations with the teachers association. The budget may be lowered by about $3 million if classified and certificated employees agree to a 3.26 percent salary reduction as well, officials said.

Class sizes were raised as the result of the reduction of nearly 30 teaching positions — including 14 retirements and temporary-teacher cuts but no layoffs. Class sizes will be up to 31 for kindergarten through third grades, and 32 in higher grades, Hamels said. READ MORE San Diego UT

You can now follow the San Marcos High construction via site Web Cam