Budget cuts reduce school funding by MILLIONS

BY MIA RAMIREZ THE MIRROR STAFF

This school year, the school is down $4 million in funding from the district.

In the 2022-23 school year, the school had $26,609,880 available in the budget. For the 2023-24 school year, there is only $21,809,846 available.

This reduction in funds is due to the discontinuation of the per-pupil program and covid-19 relief programs, which, according to the school Budget Availability Report, paid for some staff member’s salaries, substitute teacher salaries, office supplies and other general supplies for classrooms.

The per-pupil and covid-19 relief programs were outside of the general budget. Therefore, the school had not needed to use general funds to pay for the things the programs covered. Now that funds from these portions of the budget are no longer available, the school has to rely on funds from the general budget.

“Although concerning, we will always prioritize essential resources, such as necessary classroom materials, for our students when budgeting,” Title 1 Coordinator Ms. Milagro Medrano said.

This is the first time that anything like this has happened to the school.

“It is not really a budget cut like in the past,” Assistant Principal Mr. Marc Strassner said. “The school funds, programs and money are being taken back by various funding entities, some being redistributed, others simply ending.”

Certain programs, yet to be determined, will be receiving a cut in funds or may be discontinued in order to accommodate the lack of funding. Those most likely to be affected are clubs, sports and other extracurriculars. Funded school trips might also become a thing of the past.

“We will have to be more mindful and say no to things that maybe aren’t as urgent,” Ms. Medrano said.

Athletic Director Mr. Dion Coley says that the extreme budget cuts have yet to affect the Athletics Department.

“Sports are funded by the athletics section of the budget and, as of now, that budget has not changed,” he said. “So far the cuts haven’t hit athletics yet, but I am sure it is coming. Many are still unsure as to which programs are experiencing budget cuts.”

Performing Arts Coordinator Ms. Fanny Arana says that the Performing Arts programs have faced a large cutback in funds. As of now, the program is no longer able to fund choreographers, costume designers, carpenters and light technicians for school productions.

“Some of the basic foundations of the Performing Arts program is bringing in outside vendors to support and assist in our productions, and we now no longer have the money to do it,” Ms. Arana said.

In addition to not having the funds for outside vendors, the Performing Arts Department no longer has sufficient funds to pay staff for the extra time they spend helping with practices and productions.

“Multiple staff members used to get paid extra hours to supervise events, performances and rehearsals,” Ms. Arana said. “Now those staff members are working for free.”

All of these setbacks caused by the budget cuts have left students and admin who are part of the Performing Arts Magnet exasperated.

“Our goal is to always find ways to grow our program, and right now it just feels like we are taking so many steps backward that we are not moving forward,” Ms. Arana said.

The magnet programs are facing consequences, as there will no longer be enough funds for administrators to attend magnet conferences. The school has some of the top magnets in the nation, and these conferences help teach admin how to grow the programs.

“We have so many amazing programs at Van Nuys High School,” Ms. Arana said. “However, this year, a majority of them will no longer be able to happen. Though the budget cuts are disheartening, there are ways that the school can lessen the effects.

Ms. Medrano explains that the household income forms can help the school gain more funding. This is why they have been persistently encouraging all students to fill them out.

Mr. Strassner adds that sports teams and clubs can also help the school by fundraising on their own. This way, programs will not have to solely rely on the district for funds.

Enrollment decline leads to teacher displacement

BY OLAMIDE OLUMIDE

THE MIRROR NEWS & FEATURES EDITOR

The school, alongside many others across the district, is experiencing a steep decline in enrollment numbers this year.

According to Principal Lourdes De Santiago, this school year there are about 113 less students than last year. Though it fluctuates, the current enrollment number stands at 1278.

Many teachers, students and parents theorize this decline in enrollment is due to the school’s failure to implement a block schedule.

The principal says that though it might be a factor, this decline is district-wide.

“This decline is across the board,” she said.

As a result of these reports, many LAUSD schools have had to let teachers go. Displacement is based on merit and seniority within a department.

Principal De Santiago explains that the district is highly particular about maintaining a student-to-teacher ratio. When enrollment is relatively high, more teachers get hired. But when it’s low, like in this instance, some teachers need to be displaced.

The student-to-teacher ratio differs per program and magnet.

“You’re not supposed to go over a certain number of students per class and it has to do with being able to support the students,” she said. “You have to be able to meet the needs of the students. If you don’t have enough students, you cannot have a lot of teachers, so the teachers have got to go.”

A total of 62 schools across Region North, the organization that is in charge of schools located in the northern portion of LAUSD, are experiencing a decline in enrollment.

“I received information that there were 35 schools that had one teacher displaced because of low enrollment, 18 schools that displaced two teachers because of low enrollment and nine schools that had to displace three teachers because of low enrollment,” Principal De Santiago said.

Overall, 98 teachers have been displaced.

The displacement of teachers involves the transferring of teachers from their original school to a school that has a lower number of teachers.

Every year, the district has a norm day where they take into account the number of students that enrolled in that year and displace teachers accordingly. This year, the norm day was Friday, Sept. 15.

The principal says that there are a number of factors that may have contributed to the drop in enrollment. Possible influences include inflation and the relocation of families.

“Now that inflation has taken place and everybody’s feeling it, that could be a factor,” she said. “I am also aware of families that are moving out of state.”

Even after considering these aspects, Principal De Santiago says that the most significant shift in enrollment occurred after the covid-19 pandemic.

“When the district passed the mandate for people to be vaccinated, the people who did not get the vaccine were forced to be homeschooled,” Principal De Santiago said.

Noticing this decline across the board, the district has assigned schools to check up on families to make sure students are still continuing their educational journey even if it’s not at an LAUSD school.

This decline in enrollment is also affecting the school’s budget. The number of students that enroll and attend school determines the amount of money the school gets.

EMPTY HALLS With a current enrollment number of 1278 this year, the school has 113 less students than last year. This has led to the dismissal of several teachers.

“Because we don’t have the same amount of students, we don’t have the same amount of funding,” Principal De Santiago said. “That’s why we have to submit our attendance. The state provides the district money for every student that attends. So if we don’t have the students, we can’t get the money.”

This decline in enrollment is part of the reason why the school is experiencing budget cuts. Attendance money goes towards field trips and extracurricular programs, as well as magnet conferences. Without this money, the school has to be very particular in what they choose to spend their money on.

Principal De Santiago says she sees all of this as a learning experience. She, as well as the staff in the attendance and magnet offices, are dedicated to finding out where these students are going and why they’re leaving.

In an effort to prevent this decline in enrollment from happening again, both Ms. De Santiago and her associates are looking at all the possibilities of what they can do or change to support the needs of the magnet and international programs. They are conducting a thorough needs assessment and presenting it to the staff.

“This year we were not expecting that decline in the enrollment so my hope is that it is only a one time thing,” she said.