Montebello : Schools Cut $7.3 Million

The Montebello Unified School District has made $7.3 million in cuts before approving a budget that anticipates spending $109.9 million during the 1987-88 school year.

The district started the year with a balance of $9.9 million and expects to receive $102.1 million in revenue for the year, said Stephen Phillips, district business manager. The budget has a projected ending balance of $2.1 million.

Last year, the district spent $105.2 million, and it would have had to spend $116 million this year to maintain the same level of service with the increased cost of salaries, insurance and other expenses. For example, it will cost the district an estimated $4.8 million this year to pay for employee raises ranging from 4.5% to 6%, Phillips said.

Some of the more controversial cuts involved increasing the district’s pupil-teacher ratio in fifth- through eighth-grade classrooms from 31 students per teacher to about 32:1, and eliminating after-school recreation programs.

District Supt. John P. Cook has said the increase in the pupil-teacher ratio will have little or no effect on learning.

The district has 27 elementary, intermediate and high schools with an enrollment of about 30,800.