Magnet Schools Take Brunt of Budget Cuts

The Long Beach school board spared programs for disabled students but approved $3.4 million in budget cuts this week that will endanger some popular but expensive academic programs.

The cuts, about 1% of an estimated $330-million budget for 1994-95, hit hardest at the district’s magnet schools--which offer special programs designed to draw students from across the district.

The board’s decision will allow magnet programs to spend no more than $650 per student, said Assistant Supt. Tomio Nishimura. Some of the programs spend only $27 per student, but the cost goes as high as $80,000 per student. These more expensive programs will be eliminated unless they can cut costs, apply for grants or find private donors, he said.

The threatened magnets include a computer science program at Franklin Middle School and a performing arts academy at Stevenson Elementary.

The board also decided to trim administrative costs, reduce overtime payments, freeze the purchase of new equipment and limit out-of-town travel at district expense.

Trustees decided against proposed cutbacks in programs for disabled students, an action that drew cheers from many parents and teachers in the audience of 200 at the Tuesday meeting at Reid High School Auditorium.