New SDUSD Trustees Prepare to Tackle Budget

The San Diego Unified School District Board of Education recently changed with the election of two new members.

Scott Barnett and Kevin Beiser couldn't be more different. They couldn't be more the same.

They unseated longtime trustees John de Beck and Katherine Nakamura in the Nov. 2 elections and will formally take office at the Dec. 7 board meeting.

Beiser, 41, is an award-winning math teacher at Granger Junior High School in National City. A Democrat, he is the first openly gay man elected to the San Diego school board.

Barnett, 48, a Republican, is a budget consultant who has two daughters attending district schools. He represents the area that includes La Jolla.

Beiser, who won in his first try for public office, received help from the district's powerful teachers' union though he points out that it came after he was the top vote-getter in the June primary. He joins a board where four of the five trustees have enjoyed union support.

Barnett, a former Del Mar City Councilman, had union backing but lost it after he came out against Proposition J, a parcel tax measure meant to help ease budget cuts that teachers supported. The measure failed.

Beiser and Barnett have more in common when it comes to identifying their top priorities: fix the district's budget and keep cuts as far away as possible from classrooms.

"We need to clean up the finances of this organization," said Barnett, president of San Diego Taxpayers Advocate.

Beiser, who was in retail management before becoming a teacher, is also pushing for budget reforms.

"We have to definitely look at ways to create more stability," he said.

They will take office at a time when the district is facing yet another budget crisis.

District officials are projecting a $120 million budget cut next school year and worry about the possibility of state funding reductions during the current school year. They have proposed severe cuts to close the projected budget gap, including laying off hundreds of employees, closing up to 10 schools and eliminating popular school programs.

The district is currently racing to meet a December deadline to submit a report to the county Office of Education showing how it plans to balance next year's budget. The district has until next summer to adopt a final budget. The board plans to hold a special budget meeting at 5 p.m. Nov. 16 at the district's headquarters on Normal Street.

Barnett and Beiser aren't saying yet where they stand on the proposed cuts. They say it's too early to predict what the state budget will look like next year.

"It would be inappropriate to say this is what we're going to cut but I will say that my priority will be to minimize impact on the classroom," Barnett said.

"We really have no idea what the numbers will look like," Beiser said.

Both say they want to see some longterm budget fixes that include getting more precise information about the district's resources before deciding to make cuts.

"As long as we have this broken budget system, we have to have accurate numbers. We have to know how many teachers we have. How many students we have," Beiser said.

"Otherwise we get into this pink slip yo-yo game where, after June, Sacramento gives us more resources and we decide that we're going to rescind them. That isn't healthy for our kids. And it doesn't do anything to improve morale for people working in our district," Beiser said.

Barnett said he expects the board will want to "restructure the finances of the district so we really know how much money we have and how we're spending it."

"I don't think they really know," he said.

Both said they're not waiting for Dec. 7 to get started in their new positions and have been meeting with stakeholders from their areas and getting their input.

Barnett, who lives in Little Italy, said he plans to meet with members of the La Jolla Cluster Association, an organization that serves the five public schools in La Jolla, and other groups.

Beiser, who lives in Serra Mesa, said he's holding meetings also and is strongly encouraging people to get involved in protecting public schools against further state funding cuts.

"I hope Sacramento will stop balancing the budget on the backs of our children. That has got to stop," Beiser said.