School Budget Cuts and Administrator Self-preservation

How do school district administrators manage to avoid the axe when it comes to budget cuts? It's simple; they control the process.

In our little Pajaro Valley Unified School District $12 million must be cut from the 2005-2006 budget. So administrators meet ‹ sometimes with parents and teachers ‹ to find cuts. The publicly stated goal is to keep those cuts as far away from classrooms as possible.

Initially the district's Budget Committee included upwards of 25 administrators. Board members insisted on more parent participation, so two were appointed from each of the three zones.

Got the picture? Six volunteer parents trying to keep funding for classrooms, versus 25 administrators each running interference for the other to insure the axe doesn't fall on them. No wonder it's almost impossible to cut administrators.

Not only that, but since their committee presence is part of their administrative duties, they actually get paid to protect their own jobs.

District budget jugglers aren't shy about publicly displaying a list of cuts that includes administrators. But those cuts rarely materialize. Routinely, administrators are "cut," then brought back with categorical funding ‹ funding to support low performing students. In so doing, administrators claim victory for having reduced encroachment on the general fund, but those cuts aren't cuts. They're transfers. It's basically a "rob Peter to pay Paul strategy." Only in this case, you might say it's "rob students to pay administrators."

When times were good and ledgers were in the black, the district created three zones adding an entire layer of bureaucracy and administrators. Then they moved their district offices in portables at Watsonville High to the four-story Towers. Where there once were five superintendents and office space on district property, there are now seven superintendents and two acres of leased office space. Now that times are bad, administrators are unwilling to do without that which we can no longer afford for them to have.

Parents serving on the district's Budget Committee are now suggesting real cuts to administrative staff and more modest accommodations for those who remain. Among the recommendations being promoted are: Reduce the number of superintendents, cut half of the 16 director positions, and locate some administrative staff at the school sites. There they would be closer to the real action, while freeing up precious resources for classroom use.

Administrators, as you might guess, don't take such talk lightly. Some complain that they are not appreciated and are busy preparing ‹ in their spare time, no doubt ‹ a presentation to defend their worth. Still others threaten to seek employment elsewhere.

Imagine the frustration for those parents having to listen to administrators justify their indispensability while they ask ‹ over and over again ‹ for relevant information that top administrators refuse to share. To this day an organizational chart showing managers and staff has never been produced though it was requested months ago.

As a concession to the clamor to reduce, Superintendent Mary Anne Mays shifted one assistant superintendent to a principal position at Pajaro Valley High. That eliminated the stated need to hire in an additional administrator to fill that role, but it wasn't a cut. And for the high school, mired in nearly 20 years of controversy, even that move is seen as problematic. The appointment was made outside of any established process, which absolutely infuriated some members of the community.

One place where there appears to be no compromise at all is at The Towers. Officials claim, in a document titled "District Office Space Utilization," that their office space is "economical," but it exceeds all known standards for business or government office space planning. Administrative office staff alone enjoy an average of 255 sq. ft. of office space per person. I don't know about your house, but that's a large bedroom in mine. Granted, some of that space is included in expansive private offices and meeting rooms, but for heaven's sake, this is a school district, not Enron.

You may recall when Terry McHenry, head of PVUSD Business Services, drew the line on any cuts to his department by declaring he is understaffed. Understaffed? I don't know about that, but his staff is certainly not cramped for space. The 27 Business Services employees have an average 361 sq. ft. per person. Not bad, considering the average university president's office is only 371 sq. ft., according to a 1997 University of Missouri survey.

That administrators would insist they are understaffed, and defend their space as "economical," demonstrates a level of arrogance that taxpayers and concerned citizens won't appreciate. But the bottom line is this: Without serious pressure from parents, teachers, classified employees, and board trustees; neither administrators, their staff, nor their digs will be cut. And that's because administrators control the process.

Peter Nichols is the postmaster of this web site. He also teaches Adult Ed. for PVUSD and edits assessment tools for CTB/McGraw Hill in Monterey, CA. His opinions do not reflect those of his employers, any print publication or of any site linking to this one.

© Peter Nichols, 2001