Bay Area Schools Facing Tough Challenges As Newsom Trims Budget To Weather COVID-19 Shortfalls
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- As schools in the San Francisco Bay Area look at the possibility of opening schools for the next school year, Gov. Gavin Newsom has dealt them a new challenge.
Newsom is proposing roughly a $7 billion cut from education as the state tries to climb out of a budge deficit.
Two school districts, San Francisco and Oakland Unified, joined 4 others in writing a letter to legislators saying reopening of schools will be delayed if cuts do happen. The districts say during this pandemic they need more resources, not less.
"Obviously any cuts are going to hurt but that right there for Oakland Unified amounts to a 35 million dollar cut to our district," said John Sasaki, a spokesman for the Oakland Unified School District.
For a district that has already axed more than $20 million out of the budget, Oakland Unified can't imagine making more cuts, especially during this pandemic.
Many school districts are estimating a 20 percent increase in spending as they try to restart schools while putting in measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. For Oakland Unified it adds up to about $100 million.
"All this together, the math just doesn't work," Sasaki said.
The districts are asking for a clear plan from the state on how to reopen schools and the price tag associated with it. Many teachers agree with the districts, there's no way to open school by taking away resources.
"We've been making due with the are minimum and as we know, it's a public health crisis," said Vilma Serrano, a transitional kindergarten teacher. "We cannot go back to the bare minimum, it would put our communities at risk."
As states try to get the economy going by reopening businesses, schools say they play an important role in that effort. To have a safe place for students to go, while their parents work.
Districts are hoping the federal government steps up to provide schools with the resources they need.
"Bottom line is our kids, our future our schools, our staff, the health of everybody, that should be our priority," Sasaki said. "We should be focused in that because we're focused on protecting our people here."
Newsom has said the cuts could have been deeper and he is already using federal money to help schools. The state superintendent of schools will have a meeting with the districts on Thursday to go over the reopening plan.
