SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — California's staggering $54 billion budget deficit could hit students hard this year, and the San Diego Unified School District is one of several in the state warning that Governor Newsom's proposed $7 billion cuts to schools could impact their reopening plans.
San Diego schools are still set on August 31 as the first day of school, but how limited that reopening will be, depends on how much money the state plans to slash from their budgets.
Severe school budget cuts come at a time when educators are asking for more money, hundreds of millions of dollars more, just to safely reopen this fall.
“It’s the simple math that every organization, business, churches, I’m sure are also looking at,” said San Diego Unified Superintendent Cindy Marten.
Marten said the cost of distance learning alone is at $30 million.
Add to that additional spending on technology, protective equipment, cleaning supplies, janitorial costs needed to sanitize classrooms, more nurses to take temperatures, counselors for students with mental health needs, and smaller socially distanced classes.
One Bay Area classroom is experimenting with just that, placing desks inside taped boxes, and setting an example for districts everywhere.
“We’re now measuring out how big are our classrooms are. How far apart can we put kids to make sure they're six feet apart. Imagine the architects looking at the confines of our current classrooms,” said Marten.
Marten is so eager to stick to her August reopening timeline, she joined the state's largest districts in urging legislators to consider alternatives to deep cuts such as tapping into the state's rainy day fund.
“Zero of that rainy day fund has been used for education,” she said.
Newsom said the deficit is so large it'll swallow the state's reserves.
So where does that leave official reopening plans?
“There's a long road ahead of us before those final decisions are made,” Marten said.
District officials are scheduled to meet next month to nail down those plans.
As for legislators, several Republican and Democratic assembly members are signaling they'd favor adding, not slashing funding for schools.