South Bay School Districts Could Face Bankruptcy
SAN JOSE (KCBS) – A new state report shows that many school districts in low income areas could be facing bankruptcy, including four in Santa Clara County.
The school districts that could be in financial trouble include Berryessa Union, Evergreen Elementary and Ravenswood City.
Alum Rock Union Elementary School District is also on the list and Superintendent Jose Manzo blames state education cuts for their plight.
KCBS' Mike Colgan Reports:
"About 80 percent of most district's budget is on personnel," Manzo said. "So when you have significant reductions in revenue, eventually it's going to get to that level where it's going to impact the lives of the people in terms of jobs."
Manzo said that despite staffing cuts, the district has still been able to maintain a 20-to-1 student-teacher ratio in many classes.
"Despite all of those things, our teachers and our staff have really done an exemplary job in trying to bear the brunt of all of these challenges so there isn't an impact to student learning," he said. "We've doubled the API growth for the state the last three years in Alum Rock. Last year, we tripled the API growth."
Manzo said the challenge now will be to maintain the status quo with further budget cuts threatened.
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