The Morning Report
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San Ysidro School District is warning the state that it may not be able to cover its costs over the next two years as the state slashes its funding.
While all school districts are grappling with cuts, it is the only school district in San Diego County that indicated to the state that it is in immediate financial danger in the coming years. Tom Silva, its interim assistant superintendent of business services, said that the school system is most worried about the 2011-2012 school year.
Part of the problem, Silva said, is that San Ysidro had to reverse several teacher layoffs it had planned last summer to balance its budget. That’s because doing so would inflate class sizes beyond the limits in its teachers contract.
“The bottom line is we’re not really willing to sacrifice our programs,” Silva said.
San Ysidro is one of a growing number of school districts across California that have signaled that they are — or will be — in financial trouble. State Superintendent Jack O’Connell announced today that the number of school districts that said they might not be able to meet their financial obligations over the coming years has grown by 17 percent this year.
School districts in California fill out regular reports to measure their financial health, marking themselves as positive, qualified or negative.
Qualified means that a school district might not be able to cover its costs in this or the next two years; negative means that a school district won’t be able to meet its financial obligations for this or next year. San Ysidro marked itself as qualified, one of 114 school districts in the state that have done so this year.
— EMILY ALPERT