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Paso Robles School Board discusses estimated $2.5 million in budget cuts 

PRJUSD School Board meeting

The Paso Robles School District Board of Trustees held its first in-person meeting in over two months on Tuesday night at the PRJUSD District Office.

The district’s Chief Financial Officer Brad Pawlowski gave a sobering update on the budget. The impact of the COVID-19 shutdown may have a dramatic effect on district revenue. It’s not known yet how the state’s budget deficit will impact the district budget.

The state may severely cutback allocations to individual districts, he said. Superintendent Curt Dubost said that the conservative approach is to develop a “Doomsday Budget” which will address the worst possible scenario. Pawlowski is recommending the board of trustees reduce spending by an estimated $2.5 million dollars.

Trustee Joel Peterson said, “We’ve been scraping and scraping, but now you’re saying we have to make another $2.5 million cut… The state or federal government has to figure out a way to help us.” The amount could be less, depending on possible Federal assistance.

Many school districts and municipalities across the country are impacted by the shutdown and resulting loss in revenue. What makes it particularly challenging in the Paso Robles School District is the fact the school board exhausted it’s $6.5 million budget reserve, which was intended to be a buffer during financial difficulties. The PRJUSD now has no safety net.

The board also approved a resolution advocating for additional federal funding for public schools due to COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown.

The trustees received a report from Paso Robles Police Chief Ty Lewis who assured the board that the Safety Resource Officers (SRO) assigned to schools in the district should be a top priority. The Paso Robles Police Officers are upstanding citizens with extraordinary moral character, he said. Chief Lewis said they will give students a positive impression of law enforcement officers. He discouraged the district from eliminating the SROs to reduce district spending. Although that proposal is not yet being considered, a constituent has recommended it as a cost-saving measure.

The board approved a resolution consolidating the district’s election for trustees with the general election scheduled for November 3, 2020. Four of the trustees’ positions are up for re-election. They are the seats currently held by Stephanie Ulibarri, Joan Summers, Joel Peterson and Chris Bausch.

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The news staff of the Paso Robles Daily News wrote or edited this story from local contributors and press releases. The news staff can be reached at info@pasoroblesdailynews.com.