LAKE COUNTY ? As the Lake County Superintendent of Schools, Dave Geck knows how looming state budget cuts will affect the county”s school system. What he doesn”t know is whether the idea of unifying the county”s seven school districts into one central school district will save money.
“You might be able to make it happen by the middle of next school year, but this is not a strategy to create immediate savings to help deal with the proposed budget cuts we are looking at now,” Geck said.
Proposed mid-year budget cuts would have a $4 million impact on Lake County”s schools, according to Geck, and they come on the heels of a $3.8 million cut last year. Lakeport resident Lowell Grant argued before the Lake County Board of Supervisors Tuesday, claiming consolidation would mean fewer administrators and school board members, thus saving millions of education dollars.
“Grant talked about 40 school board members all drawing health and welfare benefits, but it”s really only about half of that,” Geck said.
In addition, Geck questioned whether the county”s schools would lose state and federal money if all of its students were in one unified school district. He used as an example the free and reduced rate lunch program, which provides lunch money for students in low-income families.
“A district receives federal dollars based on its number of students and families that meet a certain income guideline line. A particular district might have a higher percentage of those, but when you spread that across the county, the percentage might go down and you might not qualify for as many dollars,” Geck said.
Geck said the Lake County Committee on School District Reorganization, which is also the Lake County Board of Education, will need to do a feasibility study to assess the actual financial impact. That process will lengthen any effort to consolidate, according to Geck. He estimated that consolidating the county”s school districts could take six months or more.
The board acknowledged Tuesday that voters will ultimately decide whether unification is best for the county”s schools. Geck will need to meet with Lake County Counsel Anita Grant to determine what steps the board of supervisors can take to start the process, assess the legal ramifications and bring the answers back to the board Jan. 13.
Grant said she is reviewing a 1975 resolution passed by the board of supervisors at the time that gives authority for school district reorganization to the Lake County Board of Education.
“It”s not really a question of can you, it becomes more a question of what would happen if you do?” Grant said.
What Grant is hoping to find is what level of detail the 1975 resolution included, which will determine the actions the board of supervisors can take.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com, or call her directly at 263-5636 ext. 37.
