Millbrae Schools Could Face Deep Cuts Next Year

Millbrae schools, as others throughout California, are facing severe budget cuts for the next academic year.

Millbrae School District Chief Business Official Wendy Richard presented a grim scenario if the draconian cuts proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown are implemented for the 2012-2013 academic year.

“It would be a huge hit. It would be really hard to come back from,” she said. “We have to start thinking about the potential budget reductions now.”

Brown will slash K-14 education funding by $4.8 billion, unless voters approve a potential November ballot measure that would temporarily raise sales taxes a half-cent and impose a higher income tax on top-earners.

The state cuts affecting Millbrae would equate to about a $370 per student funding reduction, or an $838,000 annual loss.

“We’re already expecting a reduction of $300,000, so really we are preparing for a cut of $1.1 million,” said Millbrae School Board Trustee D. Don Revelo.

Richard said that the school district would likely shorten the academic year by three weeks to counterbalance the cutbacks. 

"The cuts are not ones I like, but the situation demands them," Brown said to the Legislature at the Capitol in Sacramento on Wednesday. "As for the initiative, it is fair. It is temporary. It is half of what people were paying in 2010.”

The San Mateo County Office of Education will direct Millbrae and other local school districts in implementing a reduction plan if Brown’s budget cuts are enacted.