- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Konocti Unified board begins considering zero based budget model
LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Needing to cut millions of dollars in order to have a balanced 2012-13 fiscal year budget, the Konocti Unified School District Board on Wednesday night took up a new approach to budgeting.
District Superintendent Dr. Bill MacDougall took to the board a proposed zero based budget model, accompanied by an updated list of proposals for basic services and losses that he and district management staff compiled.
The zero based process, according to MacDougall, will allow the district to begin with the vision of services it wants for its students.
From there, he said they must determine what the minimal program requirements and positions are to achieve that vision, noting they’re planning for continued success.
He suggested that the mantra needed to be how to do business differently in the face of the deep cuts Gov. Jerry Brown is projecting.
Board members went into the Wednesday night meeting knowing that they would have to begin the process of some serious considerations for the district's future, with $2.8 million – more than 10 percent of the district's budget – needing to be cut back.
“It's a tough night for all of us, whether you're sitting out there or sitting up here,” said Board Chair Anita Gordon.
The board plans an all-day budgeting workshop on Saturday, Feb. 11, but Wednesday was a chance for the management team to present its proposals to the trustees and get their initial input.
MacDougall said the document is still a draft.
He noted that in the first three years of his four-year tenure as superintendent, the district sustained $3.6 million in budget cuts. Now, in addition, it's looking at another $2.8 million.
“We want your input. It's crucial. As a community we can make this work,” he told the board and staff.
Later in the evening, as the zero based model came up for discussion, MacDougall compared the district's budget to the board game “Jenga,” in which building blocks are pulled out one at a time until the structure finally collapses.
“We have been pulling blocks out of the foundation of the Konocti Unified School District for over four years,” he said.
With $2.8 million needing to be pulled out of the district budget, “at that point the district crumbles,” he said, noting that the district is the largest organization of its kind in the county and must be fiscally responsible.
Rather than taking the approach of cutting, MacDougall proposed starting with zero and building upward. “We rebuild from a base, and that base is the bare, bare, bare minimum of operations.”
In the past four years the district has made many wise moves, including preparing for midyear cuts when other districts didn't, MacDougall said.
While the governor is proposing to put on the ballot later this year a bill to give funds to education and other state agencies, MacDougall warned it won’t be a panacea.
He said the district has to be prepared, otherwise it will be devastated. To help staff prepare, MacDougall said he will visit the district’s schools in the days ahead to discuss the budget with staff.
Understanding the new model
Among the recommended actions, the district will go from 181 days down to 177, two above the state minimum. MacDougall said it will have staff development days, which will allow them to pay staff. He said staff has made many sacrifices, and called the plan “a win-win.”
Board member Mary Silva was trying to keep track of how the various proposals would save the district money, but MacDougall said he didn't want to talk about what they were cutting, but what they were keeping.
“I have to see where it all comes from,” said Silva.
MacDougall said he wanted to discuss how to build up from zero.
Gordon said the zero based process has been described to her using a pizza comparison: the district is starting out with a thin crust pizza with sauce and cheese, and it has to decide later on the toppings.
Staff went through the proposals with the board, going over everything from federal mandates for special education services in transportation to needs for appropriate numbers of licensed vocational nurses, food services and the importance of keeping the technology director position, which helps guide the district's technology policies.
As the night wore on, MacDougall said the board was doing well with the new budget concept, noting it was a little uncomfortable at first.
“It's just a new concept,” said Silva, adding that in the 14 years she's been on the board she's never budgeted that way.
MacDougall said the board needs to be really comfortable with the method by the time the Feb. 11 budget workshop arrives.
If there was a bright spot it was that the revised document presented Wednesday was not as dire as originally proposed.
“I really had to gulp over the original one and I think this is a really good compromise,” said Gordon.
At one point, while discussing the bare minimums in food service, Board member Hank Montgomery said they needed to focus on what was needed to keep the doors open, pointing out that what they were doing had nothing to do with peoples' worth, otherwise they would have had a very different discussion.
The Wednesday evening discussion had focused mostly on the management team's proposals to the board. The next steps will be for the discussion to be opened up to everyone, MacDougall said.
“We're preparing for the worst. We will hope for the best,” he said.
Montgomery thanked the management team for its efforts.
“I think you've provided us with a thoughtful approach to a horrible situation,” he said.
He added that “it's always been kids first,” and the proposals reflected that, showing what the district values in the face of what he called “a tragic situation.”
Gordon added that the hardest thing for the board members is knowing that they didn't cause the problem.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow Lake County News on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LakeCoNews, on Tumblr at www.lakeconews.tumblr.com, on Google+, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Lake-County-News/143156775604?ref=mf and on YouTube at www.youtube.com/user/LakeCoNews .