By Greta Nerad
Executive News Editor
Faced with increasing financial demands and decreased funding, the Manhattan Beach Unified School District is planning to make budget cuts of $3,949,274 in the 2020-21 school year and $3,601,474 in the 2021-22 school year.
MBUSD is looking into potential budget cuts in various areas, including personnel and programs. At a budget workshop on Jan. 15, the MBUSD Board, MBUSD Superintendent Dr. Mike Matthews and Deputy Superintendent Dr. Dawnalyn Murakawa-Leopard spoke to community members about pending expenditure reductions, such as layoffs, increased class sizes and program cuts.
“We really considered information about what we have to provide to all students and also what we need in terms of our ability to provide a safe school environment for our students,” Murakawa-Leopard said. “We evaluated the things that are outside of that to see what options are available to us.”
In order to meet the state-required three percent of expenditures Reserve for Economic Uncertainties, MBUSD may have to lay off about 30 of its 830 employees in the 2020-21 school year, Matthews said in his Jan. 11 newsletter. These reductions in staffing for K-12 enrollment equate to savings of $1.1 million, making it the primary method of trimming expenses.
“You never ever want to get in somebody’s wallet and inhibit their ability to provide for their families; it’s not what we are here to do,” Costa Principal Dr. Ben Dale said. “This is my family, my students, my teachers, my counselors, my custodians, my security all across the board, and I will be there in the good times and the bad times.”
Other potential reductions include Teachers on Special Assignment for literacy, technology and math ($339,000); laying off three recently-added assistant principals, one working at both Grandview and Pacific Elementary Schools, one at Manhattan Beach Middle School and one at Costa ($400,000); laying off a program specialist who works for the Special Education Department ($45,000); and laying off the certificated librarian at Costa and the library specialists at the five elementaries and MBMS ($463,000).
“Every person in our district performs an important role in how we serve the students of Manhattan Beach Unified; therefore, every reduction will hurt,” Matthews said. “These are difficult decisions that will impact our students and our employees.”
In addition to personnel cuts, MBUSD is looking into removing other expenses from the budget, such as zero period at both MBMS and Costa ($600,000) and counseling for students ($600,000). The district is also considering increasing class sizes at the middle and high school levels ($600,000).
“Taking counseling services away from students is not a moral way to save money,” senior Sam Pearman said. “Also, zero period is a great asset to those trying to push themselves to take more classes and participate in athletics, so there would have to be an alternative.”
Potential cuts on the elementary school level include MakerSpace ($150,000); physical education teachers ($480,000); music programs ($495,500), visual arts programs ($100,000); reading specialists ($465,000); and science specialists ($309,000). With all of these budget cuts, the district would be able to reduce expenditures by about $6.1 million.
“Every single thing on the list is something that is important to us, and every one of them would be something that would take away from things that are very valuable for our students,” Murakawa-Leopard said. “We are looking at what things we are able to provide in other ways and what things may not be absolutely required.”
While program cuts will help to decrease spending, certificated and classified salaries and benefits for staff members make up 83 percent of the district’s budget. Personnel is the only area of expenditures that has not yet faced reductions, so the majority of cuts will be within this area, Matthews said in his Jan. 11 newsletter.
“Every one of these are people questions,” Matthews said at the Jan. 15 budget workshop. “As someone who received pink slips my first two years, I’ll never forget that; none of us do.”
District officials will decide upon who is to be laid off based off staff seniority and department needs, according to Matthews. MBUSD will give preliminary certificated layoff notices by March 15, after which recipients can request a hearing to verify their placement on the seniority list before receiving final certificated layoff notices by May 15.
“We know we are not making excessive reductions because this is just the bare minimum, but nothing is finalized,” Matthews said in the Jan. 22 board meeting. “A lot can happen before 2022; a lot is still happening.”
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