Presented to the CUSD School Board on November 9, 2011.

1. Expenditure
Reduction Proposals
Devin Vodicka, Ed.D.
November 9, 2011

2. Background Information
• Carlsbad Unified School District faces a projected fiscal deficit
of $10.6 million in 2012-13.
• San Diego County Office of Education will re-evaluate district
budget at First Interim to determine if the budget should be
certified as positive, qualified, or negative.
• First Interim Report is due December 15, 2011.
• Qualified or negative certification results in decreased local
autonomy.

3. Expenditure Reduction Efforts
• Finding ways to save money has been an ongoing focus for
years.
• At least 73 strategies from “Doing More With Less: A Guide to
Effective Resource Management in California K-12 Education”
have already been implemented.
• Class size has increased in grades 1-3.
• K-6 Home Study program was eliminated.
• General education Summer School was reduced (High School)
and eliminated for grades K-8.
• Deferred maintenance budget was reduced.
• Site and department budgets have been reduced.

4. Reducing Expenses
• Positions have been eliminated or vacated:
• Director of Curriculum and Instruction
• Admin Assistant—Language Assessment Center
• English Language Development Resource Teacher
• Instructional Aide—Computer Lab (two part-time positions)
• Librarian (two part-time positions)
• Executive Assistant, Business Services

5. Revenue Initiatives
• Joint-use agreements
• Rental/lease of district facilities
• Selling surplus equipment and vehicles
• Potential ballot initiatives in November 2012
• Unfortunate reality is that we can not yet “count” on these
dollars

6. Expenditure Reduction Process
• Governing Board action on October 12th placed eighteen
different expenditure categories into one of three groups:
• Strong potential for reduction
• Moderate potential for reduction
• Low potential for reduction

7. Expenditure Reduction Groupings
Consideration for Reduction Expenditure Category
Group 1: Strong Sage Creek Delay
Reduce/Eliminate Admin/Management
Reduce/Eliminate Stipends
Employee Compensation Reductions
Reduce/Eliminate Travel & Conference
Reduce/Eliminate Site and Department Accounts
Reduce Special Ed
Reduce Textbook Expenses
Group 2: Moderate Closing School(s)
Reduce/Eliminate Classified Positions
Reduce/Eliminate Athletics
Reduce/Eliminate Contractual
Reduce/Eliminate Programs
Reduce Instructional Days
Group 3: Low Increase Class Size—Elementary
Increase Class Size—Middle
Increase Class Size—High School
Reduce/Eliminate Guidance

8. Analysis Teams
• Convened to focus on expenditure categories in “Strong” or
“Moderate” potential for reduction groups
• Reviewed spending trends, current reality, and projections
• Brainstormed ways to reduce expenses
• Identified potential impact and additional considerations
• Summary of Analysis Team input provided in Board Packet

9. Survey
• Online survey launched on October 19, 2011
• 538 responses
• 404 of the respondents were parents
• Mixed feedback
• Sage Creek Delayed Opening:
• 56 respondents not in favor of any delay
• 55 respondents were in support of delay
• Strong support for reductions in travel/conference and
admin/management
• Unsolicited feedback regarding class size was prevalent with
strong opposition to higher numbers

10. Proposed Expenditure Reductions
Recommendation Item Description Projected Savings Total
8 Reduce Textbook Expenses $0
Take no action at this time 12 Reduce/Eliminate Contractual $0 N/A
$289,576 per day in
14 Reduce Instructional Days
employee costs
2 Eliminate 3 or more admin positions in 2012-13 $450,000
3 Reduce Middle School Village Leader stipends $15,702
Strong Recommendation for
5 Eliminate Travel and Conference $60,000 $1,529,702
Reductions
6 Reduce Site and Department Accounts $454,000
7 Reduce Special Education $530,000
11 Reduce Athletic Budget $20,000
1a, 1b, 1c, 1d Sage Creek Delay $200,000 to $493,822
9 Closing schools $800,000
10a, 10b, 10c,
Eliminate Classified Positions $952,221
Moderate Recommendation 10d, 10e $2,532,445 to
for Reductions 13a, 13b, 13c, $2,826,267
13d, 13e, 13f,
Eliminate Programs $580,224
13g, 13h, 13i,
13j, 13k, 13l
$4,062,147 to
Total
$4,355,969

11. Take No Action
• Reducing Textbook Expenses
• Already cut to $20 per student
• Significant complications due to Williams Settlement compliance
• Potential possibilities in future with adoptions and new school
openings
• Reducing/Eliminating Contractual
• Procedural changes may result in some savings
• Reducing Instructional Days
• Workyear must be negotiated through collective bargaining

12. Strong Recommendation for
Reduction
• Eliminate 3 or more administration positions.
• Reduce number of Middle School Village Leader stipends.
• Sweep travel and conference budgets and reduce allocations
in 2012-13.
• Reduce special education budget due to savings in Non-Public
School (NPS) and Non-Public Agency (NPA) costs.
• Reduce athletics budget by using less charter bussing, fewer
substitutes and a reduced budget for playoff stipends.

13. Moderate Recommendation
for Reduction
• Review Sage Creek options
• Closing Schools
• Elimination of Classified Positions
• Elimination of Programs

14. Sage Creek Options
• 1a: Reduce start-up budget in 2012-13 and still open as
scheduled in 2013-14
• Potential Savings in 2012-13: $200,000
• 1b: Delay opening until 2014-15 which shifts start-up costs to
2013-14
• Potential Savings in 2012-13: $493,822
• 1c: Move Calavera Hills Middle School to Sage Creek campus
and use available space to balance elementary school
enrollment
• Potential Savings Unknown
• 1d: Open Sage Creek at 6th-12th grade “school of choice”
• Potential Savings Unknown

15. Closing School(s)
• Recommend convening districtwide committee to determine
best method to identify and implement closure of two schools
and relocation of district office with intent to rent/lease as a
strategy to generate revenue.
• Committee would bring specific proposal for Board Approval
in February 2012. School closures would be implemented in
2012-13.
• Approximate savings of $400,000 per school closure.

16. Eliminating Classified Positions
• 10a: Eliminate Instructional Assistant-Computer Lab and add
one Computer Technician
• 10b: Eliminate Guidance Technicians
• 10c: Eliminate School Administrative Assistant—Assistant
Principal (Valley)
• 10d: Eliminate Accompanist (Valley)
• 10e: Eliminate 4 district office positions TBD

17. Reduce/Eliminate Programs
• 13a: Cal-Safe Program
• 13b: School Resource Officers
• 13c: Kontraband (drug sniffing dogs)
• 13d: Add Up drug intervention program
• 13e: Eliminate 1.0 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Campus Safety
Assistant
• 13f: Reduce Student Services Support Specialist from 1.0 FTE to .5
FTE
• 13g: Reduce GATE Testing Expenses
• 13h: Reduce Articulation and Curriculum Meetings
• 13i: Reduce Schoolwise Press (School Accountability Report Cards)
• 13j: Reduce Middle School Independent Study PE expenses
• 13k: Provide for flexibility with Independent Study PE in grades 9-12
which would result in elimination of 1.0 FTE PE Teacher
• 13l: Eliminate 1.0 FTE certificated librarian

18. Recommendation
• Recognizing that the balance of any remaining projected fiscal deficit will need to be
resolved through reductions in employee total compensation through the collective
bargaining process, we recommend the following:
• Taking no action on expenditure reduction items 8, 12, and 14.
• Textbook expenses
• Contractual services
• Instructional days
• Strong recommendation to approve expenditure reductions 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and 11.
• Administration positions
• Middle School stipends
• Travel and Conference
• Site and department accounts
• Special education budget
• Athletic budget
• Recommend discussion and selective actions on “Moderate Recommendation” items 1, 9,
10, and 13.
• Sage Creek
• School Closures
• Classified Positions
• Programs