Fresno schools face big budget cuts amid coronavirus. Should they trim police funding?

California schools are bracing for multi-million dollar budget shortfalls in the wake of economic destruction sparked by coronavirus shutdowns, and Fresno schools are eyeing contracts with the city’s police department as they look for ways to cut costs.

Early estimates put the district’s losses around $100 million as tax revenues nosedive, Deputy Superintendent Ruthie Quinto said. But schools will get a better picture as fall approaches and the state finalizes spending plans. Despite the uncertainty, school districts need to have budgets in place by June 30, the end of the fiscal year.

Fresno Unified staff began wading into those waters earlier this month, asking the district’s board of trustees to consider slashing the gunshot-tracking technology known as ShotSpotter, which the district pays the city of Fresno to support.

Fresno schools first invested in the technology in 2016, over the objection of the teacher’s union, and allowed schools to act as detection centers in some of the city’s most violent neighborhoods.

The district’s three-year contract with the city expires in November. A new deal would cost the district $350,000 next year with a 5% increase annually in subsequent years.

Axing ShotSpotter funding?

Several trustees said the gunshot-tracking program is good for the community, but the district shouldn’t pay for it. Trustees Veva Islas and Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas said the city of Fresno should foot the bill.

“We should have never paid for (ShotSpotters) and shouldn’t pay for them in the future,” Islas told The Bee. “I don’t say that with any type of unappreciation for police, but that (funding) should be coming out of the city’s budget.”

The money used for shot spotters could fund other programs that “more directly” affect students, district staff told trustees on April 15.

Islas said every school dollar should be spent toward education, and, in an era of distance learning, she said the district should prioritize computer technology for students and teachers.

Other trustees expressed reservations about eliminating the ShotSpotter investment, saying it protects students and lowers the need for precautionary lockdowns because it detects the difference between real gunfire and other sounds, like fireworks, that are commonly misreported as possible gunfire.

Cutting the funding, Trustee Carol Mills said, could leave some schools exposed.

“The district is legally responsible for a student’s safety on campus, but also required to provide safe routes to and from school,” Mill said in an email to The Bee. “Before there was ShotSpotter, sometimes schools were in lockdown and learning (was) disrupted for as long as two hours; that has not happened since Shot Spotter.”

Trustees Valerie Davis and Claudia Cazares said the city should pay for a more substantial portion of the bill.

The district funds six square miles, or about 42%, of ShotSpotter coverage areas in the city, officials said. The program covers 25 out of the 109 schools in Fresno Unified, and the schools covered are in areas where police say shootings are more likely to occur.

In the past three years, there have been 1,540 gunshot alerts within the six miles the district funds, and most — about 80% — of those alerts happened when campuses were closed, district officials said.

Fresno Mayor Lee Brand said ShotSpotter has been a “very effective” tool to keep children safe. The mayor said if schools cut the funding, the city would “do our best to maintain ShotSpotter, but may have to reduce the coverage area” of schools and surrounding neighborhoods and businesses.

“We have the same, if not worse budget issues as FUSD,” Brand said in a statement to The Bee.

Last week, the city announced it expects a $39 million budget cut.

Cops on campus?

Marisa Moraza, youth advocacy and leadership manager at Fresno Barrios Unidos, said she was “really interested” to hear the district staff supported cutting ShotSpotter funding. However, she said the board should take it a step further and stop funding police on campuses.

Fresno Barrios Unidos is a youth advocacy organization that has been at the forefront of issues surrounding police on campus.

“Police officers are not an essential service needed to help in these actions and scenarios that need culturally responsive behavioral health support,” Moraza said. “This is not a new ask from our youth.”

Moraza said when she’s spoken with students about their feelings of safety and support at school, “cops never come up.”

“I think we have to understand is the moment that we are in is calling for us to find a new way forward,” Moraza said. “COVID-19 has exposed the fragility and failure of our current resources.”

While no trustees discussed removing police from campuses, Islas said the district should explore significant changes to how law enforcement officers operate in schools.

She floated the idea of the district establishing its own police force, like Clovis Unified. She asked staffers to prepare a report comparing existing law enforcement contracts with the cost of creating a district police department.

Such a move, Islas suggested, would also give schools more latitude with officer training.

“I feel that there is a benefit when we are the direct employer and not subcontracting out,” she said. “We can do things like training on culture and linguistic capacity. It’s an alternative to continue to explore.”

Will there be teacher layoffs?

Quinto said the district has no immediate plans to lay off employees.

“That is not an option unless this (recession) progresses for a significant period of time,” Quinto said. “We are always going to prioritize the teaching and learning environment.”

District staffers have been looking into the past for guidance on spending cuts that would preserve education.

“If the revenue reduction for next year mirrors what we experienced during the Great Recession, we are looking at a 10% to 12% decrease in our general fund revenues,” Quinto told The Bee.

Fresno Unified lost a total of $140 million over three years in revenue during the financial collapse of 2008, Quinto said. The district made cuts to administration, internal services workers’ compensation, and furlough days were implemented. Some vacant positions also were eliminated from the books, and class sizes were increased by one student.

The district’s general fund last fiscal year was about $1 billion.

Federal and state stimulus funding will help schools offset some impacts, but numbers haven’t been finalized.

What are other districts doing?

Clovis and Central Unified School District staffers are in the same boat.

Clovis Unified’s board has yet to hold discussions, but district spokesperson Kelly Avants said they are monitoring the situation closely.

“Do we know what the budget is going to look like next year? No,” Avants said. “The state has articulated that they are in uncharted waters, and there are definitely going to be major repercussions from what we are living right now, and we are preparing ourselves for that. We’re not making any finite decision about millions of dollars worth of things at this moment.”

Clovis Unified Associate Superintendent Michael Johnston said the district started preparing for cuts as soon as closures began to happen. They went on a hiring freeze for the time being to have more financial flexibility later, he said.

The Clovis Unified board will not be discussing budget items until next month, Avants said.

Central Unified officials declined to comment because they have not had budget discussions with board members. Budget items won’t be publicly discussed until May.

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab on our website.