School board approves $9 million in cuts

After years of overspending and draining the district’s savings account, the Oakland school board approved $9 million in midyear budget cuts, a decision lambasted by parents and teachers.

The vote Wednesday night culminated a months-long process of public input and budget analysis to identify how much and where to cut to keep the district financially afloat.

School board members voted 6-1 in favor of the resolution. Director Roseann Torres cast the only no vote. Their vote was met with loud “boos” from the audience of parents, teachers and students.

The resolution calls for school sites to cut $3.8 million with the remaining $5.2 million in cuts to be taken from the central office.

“We tried to make cuts away from the school and students as much as possible,” said Superintendent Kyla JohnsonTrammell.

Initially, district officials proposed $15.1 million in cuts, with school sites taking a $5.6 million hit and central office covering the rest.

In recent days, the district made adjustments in the budget, reflecting increased revenue and unpaid furlough days for administrative staff, among other cost savings, reducing the proposed midyear cut to $9 million.

The board’s vote did not specify how the cuts would be divided among the schools.

The amount that schools will have to cut is dependent on school grade level — elementary, middle and high school — and the number of students, as well as other factors.

Bigger schools face larger cuts, according to a district spokesman.

District officials said the decision means school-based services that come out of the central office budget — including custodians, nurses, counselors — will not be cut.

In addition, 32 administrative positions would be cut, according to the proposal.

The school board was also considering eliminating certain contracts that support infrastructure and services to school sites.

Yet principals, parents and teachers have lambasted the district for lax oversight of spending, resulting in devastating cuts halfway through the school year.

A $500,000 cut will be made to books and supplies, not including textbooks. Many schools will have to scramble to find funds to pay for even paper and pencils — which many of the dozens of students who spoke during public comment said was disappointing.

“Why am I reading history books that are 10 years old?” said an 11th-grade student from Oakland Technical High School. “How dare you stand here and look at me, the future, and say you’re going to cut my education.”

Teachers raised concerns about already depleted supplies at schools — from paper to lack of toilet paper in the bathrooms.

The current budget crisis follows a pattern of district spending beyond its means, a multiyear pattern masked in part by accounting tricks and lax oversight, district officials acknowledged.

Several factors have contributed to the overspending, including increases in special education costs and big spikes in pension payments.

The district is still reeling from a $100 million bailout and state takeover in 2003, with $40 million still owed to California from that crisis.

“I really hope this is the last time we have to deal with something like this,” said Gema Quetzal, a student director sitting on the board. “I just want Oakland to stop with these cuts. Us Oakland youth, we deserve so much more than these cuts. We are the ones that are the future.”

Sarah Ravani and Jill Tucker are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: sravani@ sfchronicle.com and jtucker@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker @sarravani