Federal stimulus funds have saved nearly 350 jobs in the Santa Clarita Valley's five budget-strapped school districts.
"Our staff is much smaller than it was, but it would have been even smaller had we not gotten the stimulus money," said Sue Guthrie, chief financial officer for the William S. Hart Union High School District.
The Hart district this year has cut 68 certificated positions - employees who work with kids in classrooms, including teachers - this year by eliminating vacant positions, offering retirement incentives and increasing class sizes.
The stabilization funding that spared the districts from further cuts came from the $787 billion federal stimulus package. The money, which totals about $17 million for all five school districts, was designed to offset budget cuts and keep jobs in education.
The funds must be spent within two years.
Of the jobs saved, 122 classified and certificated positions were saved through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funding, which goes directly to special education funding.
More than $8 million of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act went to the local districts' special education programs.
The money benefits Saugus Union School District, which is facing an $8 million budget cut next year.
"It was very significant," Superintendent Judy Fish said. "It allows us to carry on this year with not having laid those teachers off. It really helped with this year's budget."
Castaic Union School District Superintendent James Gibson said the money gives the district time to solve the budget funding issues.
Castaic Union has dealt with a $2.4 million budget reduction, which amounts to roughly 10 percent of the entire school district budget, Gibson said.
For Sulphur Springs, the stimulus money saved instructional aides, who would have most likely been eliminated, Superintendent Robert Nolet said.
The dollars kept Canyon Springs Community School librarian aide Claire Reeves employed.
"I'm happy to be able to continue to work," she said.
But stabilization funding is temporary, which leaves superintendents like Marc Winger of Newhall School concerned about the "funding cliff" - a significant drop off in education funding after the two-year federal money ends.
"We're just struggling to hold on to what we have," he said.
Looking to the future, Reeves worries about how the cuts will impact student education.
"These are the ones who are going to take care of us when we're sick," Reeves said while looking at kids in the library.
"If they don't get the education they need or deserve, it's going to impact us in the future."
