Special School Board Meeting Will Decide Budget Cuts

After of , the Sonoma Valley Unified School District board will finalize almost $2.6 million in a special meeting tonight.

The cuts, which total $2,589,639, match up with the amount SVUSD is required to provide the state in 'fair share' funds, to equalize the state budget. To date, SVUSD has provided just over $5 million in fair share funds, and will most likely send another $2.5 million in 2012.

To reach the bottom line, the district will present a package which includes cuts to staff compensation, school days and programing.  

See the district's full list of cuts, with analysis, at right.

'Reorganizing' maintenance staff will save the district $506,620, the largest cut on the table.  

The district will keep Kindergarten and First Grade with a 22 to 1 ratio but increase class size for Second Grade. The increase maintains the flexibility to decrease the class size again, says the district, since they are not "eliminating class size reduction," but simply instituting a "penalty phase."

Several cuts to staff time will require approval by union negotiators, including the loss of three buy back days ($325,00 in savings) and five furlough days ($542,420 in savings) – a 4.4 percent contract cut for staff.

The district is also set to cut coaching stipends for Middle School Sports ($51,287) and eliminate the Gateway School ($100,000), a program for teen parents, and the Sonoma Valley Adult School ($267,000) – possibly funneling these students into regional programs in Petaluma or Santa Rosa. 

Stay tuned for our live blog starting at 6:30 p.m. – we'll give you a play-by-play of the discussion and final voting record.

The board will meet in closed session starting at 5:45 p.m. The open session begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room at the , 177 First St. W.