The San Dieguito School Board has recently voted and approved salary increases for its teachers that included assurances the certificated staff will be the highest paid in the county.
This binding, voted and approved agreement, the administration has indicated will not result in higher student to teacher ratios to offset its increased cost.
The interim budget, being presented to the board to approve on Thursday, indicates otherwise.
Page 166 of the current board packet shows an additional increase of 201 students to the previously forecasted increase of 133 in 2017 that was already on top of 255 new students next year.
That’s an increase of 589 students, based on the 12,214 for this year going up to the new total of 12,803 for 2017.
Additional students, mean more revenue, somewhere around $8,000 for every new student based on the LCFF formula.
That would be fine with all the new buildings, if the forecast also reflected 10 to 20 more teachers to keep the district around the same staffing ratios, it does not.
Based on pages 161, 181 and 184 of the board packet, teachers and staff levels are basically the same for the next three years.
Having already expressed my concerns about the prior increase of almost 400 students, this addition of 201 more students to the forecast makes me even more worried that the student to teacher ratios are going to go up and/or there will be higher deficit spending then want is being forecasting.
Some of the members of the board are also worried and they should be. If you are also concerned, let the board know.
Ask them to put it in writing and put to a vote that the student to teacher ratios will not be raised.
Steven McDowell is a Del Mar resident and former candidate for the SDUHSD school board.
