Local educators are searching for budget savings this school year and bracing for what some called "a day of reckoning" under the governor's spending plan for the next fiscal year.

Facing a growing state budget shortfall, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed cutting $4.4 billion, or 10 percent, from what public schools were expecting in 2008-09, leaving no major programs untouched. It would represent a 3.1 percent cut from current funding, and with inflation and other rising costs, education officials say it could be disastrous. Schwarzenegger also plans to take $360 million away from schools in the current fiscal year.

In response, school district administrators said, they have already begun scrimping, putting off purchases they had planned to make this year and keeping some staff positions vacant.

Still, they said, it will be impossible to keep cuts from affecting students in the classroom if the budget plan doesn't change. Layoffs and bigger class sizes could be coming, local administrators said, although only as a last resort.

"We understand the need for a balanced state budget," said Deputy Superintendent Jeff Baarstad, who estimated that the Conejo Valley Unified School District would lose millions of dollars. But "the governor's proposal would be catastrophic for public education."

School officials said they are optimistic that the final state budget will look much different from the governor's proposal. May revisions are still months away, and legislators must agree to any plan. Legislators have convened a special session to deal with the budget crisis.

The state is expecting a $14.5 billion shortfall by the end of 2008-09 if nothing is done.

Local educators met in Ontario in January to discuss the governor's proposal, and the message was clear: Cut whatever you can now and economize whenever possible, said Stan Mantooth, associate superintendent of the Ventura County Office of Education.

Most districts in Ventura County likely can weather the proposed midyear cut for 2007-08, he said, which is expected to not exceed 0.5 percent of their funding.

Cost-cutting started

Most have already started cost-cutting measures, such as delaying plans to replace aging equipment or renovate facilities, or canceling staff training and travel plans.

In the Oxnard Union High School District, it means that a vehicle might not be replaced this school year, but a new textbook will still be ordered, Assistant Superintendent Randy Winton said.

Next year, "that's when the day of reckoning really comes," Mantooth said.

The governor's 2008-09 budget proposal cuts $1 billion from what was expected for specific education programs, including class-size reduction, counseling and career technical education. Schwarzenegger also proposed taking $2.6 billion from districts' unrestricted funding — money that pays for things like salaries and benefits.

Baarstad doesn't expect to see large-scale layoffs in his district, and increasing class sizes is "the last thing we really want do." Both Baarstad and Winton said their districts likely will consider using their reserves to get through next school year.

But that's a short-term fix, Baarstad said, and the money would have to be replaced at some point.

Many Ventura County districts have already settled 2008-09 labor contracts with employee unions and now will have to make sure that they still have money to pay for increased wages and benefits. Other districts, like Pleasant Valley in Camarillo, are still negotiating contracts.

Too soon to panic

Arleigh Kidd, executive director of the Unified Association of Conejo Teachers, which has already settled, said districts likely will be scrambling to find places to cut. But it's too soon for teachers to panic about layoffs or pay cuts.

The governor's proposal is the first round of a long fight, he said, and "if there's anything good about this proposal it's that everybody seems to hate it."

Other proposed cuts include about $358 million to special education services, which districts legally would still be required to provide; nearly $199 million for child development programs, which could limit the availability of subsidized preschool; and $14.2 million to child nutrition programs, which help pay for free and reduced-price student meals.

Pleasant Valley Superintendent Luis Villegas called the budget plan "very, very disheartening." The K-8 district also expects enrollment to continue declining, which further reduces the amount of money it will get from the state.

Pleasant Valley closed schools last year to save money, and Conejo Valley Unified, also with declining enrollment, has begun a process to close two elementary schools by fall 2009.

"If just half of the things we have heard come true," Villegas said of the governor's budget, "it would be devastating."