School districts prepare for less money

The Vanden robotics team work on a robotic prototype in 2012. (Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic file)

FAIRFIELD — Automatic federal budget cuts could mean fewer jobs, fewer bus routes and cuts to student activities for Travis School District.

With more than a third of the students in the district coming from military families, the district relies heavily on federal funding for those 5,400 students. That equated to $2.8 million in what’s known as impact aid last year, according to a district report.

A 5.3 percent cut would equal a loss of $148,000 to the budget. That money would come from cutting jobs, activities and bus routes, according to the district.

Impact aid is given to school districts, American Indian reservations, low-rent housing and other federal entities across the country. More than 1,300 school districts and 11 million students benefit from that money, according to the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools. It reported that $70 million would be cut across the country from federally impacted schools.

One of the concerns for Vacaville School District is cuts to special education funding. Kari Sousa, associate superintendent of business, said that population would be some of the most affected.

Any money cut from special education would have to be made up by local dollars, Sousa said. Much of the funding for special education services goes to the Solano County Office of Education and is dispersed from there. Solano uses the money for services throughout districts and the rest trickles down, Sousa said.

She said the county will still receive the same amount of money, however whatever is left will be subject to cuts.

Sousa also said the district receives federal funding for special education, low socio-economic population, limited English-speaking students and professional development for teachers.

Sousa said Vacaville received $4.7 million in federal funding in the 2012-13 school year. She said the district hasn’t received a hard number on what it would lose, but she said a 5.9 percent cut would equate to around $280,000. Where those cuts would come from is a discussion for later.

“We have some ability to make changes in the types of services we provide. If it continues to the next year, we can make modifications,” Sousa said. “But less money means we can provide less service.”

Reach Danny Bernardini at 427-6935 or dbernardini@dailyrepublic.net. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/dbernardinidr.

Danny Bernardini

Danny is a newspaper man born and raised in Vacaville. He attended Chico State University and has written for the Enterprise Record and the Reporter. Covers the City of Fairfield, education and crime. A's, Warriors and Saints fan. Listener of vinyl, frequent visitor to the East Bay. Registered "decline to state" voter. Loves a good steak.

View all my stories Email Me