While no formal plans have been devised, Burbank Unified School District officials were presented with bond extension and parcel tax campaign plans by four municipal election consultants last week. Reviews of the proposals are likely to take place again in December, Burbank Unified school board member Larry Applebaum said.
Burbank laid off 34 teachers in May and voted unanimously to increase class sizes.
“At some point you have to say, there is no more cutting we can do,” he said.
Applebaum favors a parcel tax, but it was too soon to determine where the board would move or how soon, he said.
“The covenant will be, you give us the authority to tax your parcel, and for that vote, we commit we will fund programs A, B, C, D, E and F,” he said.
Glendale Unified School District officials project a $23-million budget deficit by 2012-13, and support from the federal stimulus bill is expected to end before the 2011-12 school year.
“If we face the funding deficit that we see on the horizon, then we may very well turn to our community and ask them to protect our students’ education,” Glendale Unified school board President Mary Boger said.
Voters in Culver City overwhelmingly adopted a new tax for $96 every year for five years to produce roughly $1.2 million annually. Advocates said it would provide funding for math, science and art programs, as well as new teaching materials.
Similar measures also passed in La Cañada and South Pasadena. But in Long Beach, the parcel tax failed. The measures require a two-thirds majority to pass.
School officials in Pasadena and Los Angeles are likely to seek a similar tax this spring to offset multi-million dollar shortfalls projected for next year.
