After spending much of the fall worrying about the potential for drastic mid-year budget cuts, the Mariposa County Unified School District can breathe a little sigh of relief. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2010-11 budget proposal does not include any cuts to current year funding.

While the state may want people to think this is good news for education, local school officials remain cautious. “Beware of politicians bearing ‘good news,’” Superintendent Randy Panietz said after attending a School Services of California conference on the budget. He was encouraged by the lack of mid-year cuts, but is still wary of the governor’s proposal to spare education any further reduction in the next school year.

Even so, the state has figured a way to reduce education funding without calling it a cut. “What was referred to as a one time Revenue Limit funding reduction of $252.83 per Average Daily Attendance (ADA) for 2009-10, is now becoming an ongoing, yearly one time revenue loss of $201 per ADA,” Panietz said.

“This translates into a reduction in anticipated funding for the 2010-11 school year of approximately $417,678,” the superintendent said. Now the work on dealing with that loss, coupled with the district’s continued declining enrollment, begins.

“It is unclear exactly how these cuts may be made, as they are yet to be clearly defined,” Panietz said.

The superintendent said the details of how this information combined with the district’s current financial status will be forthcoming. “We are currently working on current year reductions to post a positive second interim report and developing reduction plans for the 2010-11 school year,” he said.

Last month the district adopted a “qualified” first interim report because there was uncertainity about it being able to meet its financial obligations for this and the next two years. The MCUSD Board of Trustees meets tonight at 6:30 p.m. for its regular January meeting.