"School district staffers have offered up a long list of possible cuts to fill a budget gap that could range from $147 million to $203 million. Their ideas include cutbacks that must be negotiated with reluctant labor unions as well as politically toxic ideas such as completely eliminating librarians and vice principals, jettisoning the arts and magnet programs and closing five schools. But if California makes the deepest cuts possible, in the worst way possible, the school district could take every one of those dreaded steps and still wouldn't be able to close the gap.
'I don't have any answers right now,' said school board member Richard Barrera, who voiced concern about the situation last week. 'But we've got to stay patient. These numbers can change.'"