SANTA ANA : School Board Cuts Budget $13 Million

The Santa Ana Unified School District Board of Education was presented with a preliminary budget this week that includes about $13 million in cuts approved by trustees in March.

The $195-million budget prepares the district for what could be a drastic reduction in state funding if Gov. Pete Wilson’s proposed budget is approved by the Legislature in its entirety, said Robert W. Giritz, the district’s controller.

“We built a budget on what the governor has proposed,” Giritz said. “We are just waiting to see what happens between the governor and the Legislature.”

The across-the-board cuts come in 37 areas, including athletics, bilingual education, music and art. More than 100 full-time and part-time positions have also been eliminated, including some counselors, school nurses, music teachers, librarians and bilingual classroom aides.

Other budget cuts include the elimination of all conferences and travel for a savings of $100,000 and the delay of some non-critical maintenance work throughout the district that will save about $300,000.

In addition to the cuts proposed by Wilson, the district has also been hit with a projected loss of more than $2 million in revenue from developer fees and year-round school incentive programs.

The developer fees, which netted the district nearly $2 million last year, are expected to drop to half that amount because less development activity is expected to take place within district in the coming year.