Local educators say they are amazed that the California Legislature can’t come together on a budget to avoid serious pain in the schools. In Mammoth Lakes, School Superintendent Frank Romero said the “partisan bickering in Sacramento is nonsense.”

No disagreement there. Romero and the Mammoth School Board will start to talk about how to respond if the State does come through with funding cuts. Romero said Mammoth School District is considered a Basic Aid district which survives on local property taxes. That helps, but the State could still cut funds for classroom size reduction which could lead to lay offs. Transportation funds could face cuts, and the State might try to actually take some of Mammoth’s on tax funds.

In Bishop, Superintendent Maggie Kingsbury said that she planned to send a note to the staff and parents that Bishop schools have enough cash reserves to make it through until June, if necessary.

Kingsbury and others will attend the Governor’s Workshop in Long Beach next Tuesday to find out what schools can expect. Right now, they don’t know. Kingsbury did say that due to declining enrollment, Bishop High School will lose $320,000. State cuts will take more on top of that, if they happen.

All local districts face the legal deadline for lay off notices on March 15th. They just want some certainty on funding.

Discover more from Sierra Wave: Eastern Sierra News

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading