Office of the Superintendent*

(Governing board members overseeing the county's ten districts, similar to governing board members statewide, are offered education and training in school district budgeting and financial oversight, but seldom take maximum advantage of the workshops offered.) The San Luis Obispo County Office of Education partially disagrees with Finding #2. The County Office of Education is in agreement that education and training in school district budgeting and financial oversight is offered to Governing Board members. Formal training (i.e. workshops, seminars, conferences, webinars, etc.) in the areas of district budgeting and financial oversight is provided by several statewide organizations, primarily the California School Boards Association (CSBA), and locally by individual districts and the County office of Education. Our disagreement is with the degree that board members avail themselves of these trainings. There is little definitive data on board members' attendance at these formal sessions, and therefore we do not know how many board members take advantage of these trainings. Statewide organizations also offer online webinars in the area of school finance and district budgeting, however our office does not have access to the participation rate in these sessions by local governing board members. In addition, it is common for extensive discussion and information regarding school budgets and financial oversight to occur regularly at the regular and special meetings of the governing board. Please note our response to Recommendation #1 which is related directly to this Finding.

(Three Basic Aid districts, Cayucos, San Luis Coastal and Coast Unified, which receive revenue from local property taxes and have maintain substantial reserves, are expected to weather the current state budget crisis with minimal disruption of their education programs.) The San Luis Obispo County Office of Education partially disagrees with Finding #8. The County Office of Education is in agreement that the three "Basic Aid" districts mentioned have maintained larger reserves than "Revenue Limit" districts in the county. Our disagreement is with the statement that these districts have had "minimal disruption" to their educational programs and are expected to be minimally impacted by the state budget crisis. Each of these districts has lost substantial revenue from their "fair share" contributions required by the state in lieu of revenue limit reductions. Over the past three years, the total amount of these "fair share" reductions for the three districts amounts to $12,700,000. For example, the adopted budget for the current school year (2012-13) for the San Luis Coastal Unified School District shows a further reduction of over $4 million. Reductions in expenditures of this magnitude translate into severely reduced program offerings for students and should not be characterized as "minimal disruption". Our three Basic Aid districts may not be on "life support" yet, but they are certainly in the Emergency Room. It is also important to note that these three districts, just like the Revenue Limit districts, are deficit spending and their reserves are rapidly declining. There is also much uncertainty about the impact of either the passage or failure of the November 2012 tax election on these three districts, and these districts are all planning to make even more reductions for the 2012-2013 school year. In summary, it our position that all districts in our county have been adversely impacted to a significant degree by the state budget crisis and all are significantly short of being able to provide the quality educational program that our children deserve.

(A parcel tax is a viable revenue source for school districts; however, the two- thirds voter approval requirement is a substantial challenge). The San Luis Obispo County Office of Education disagrees with Finding #11. We believe that the two-thirds voter approval requirement for a parcel tax is too great of a barrier to make this tax a "viable revenue source." The Grand Jury acknowledges this impediment as a "substantial challenge." A review of statewide data shows that it is primarily in very affluent communities, usually in the Bay Area, where parcel taxes have been successful. We remind the Presiding Judge that the most recent tax election in our county on school issues was the school facilities bond that passed in November of 2010 (Measure I-10) in the Atascadero Unified School District for $118 million. That measure did not reach the two-thirds requirement even though the proposed property tax was actually a decrease in what residents had been paying. Facilities bonds require a 55% passage and the Atascadero measure passed with a 64% majority. It is our belief that the current political climate will not support a local tax measure that requires a two- thirds voter approval. * Attachment #2 REPORT TITLE: Are Paso Robles School Budgetary Woes A Lesson for Other Districts? REPORT DATE: June 26, 2012 AUTHORIZED RESPONDER: County Superintendent of Schools for the San Luis Obispo County Office of Education. Summary to Describe Implemented Action in Response to