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Diablo Canyon Closure threatens Funding for local School district
By Lindsey Zang
In June 2016, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) announced that it would retire Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant upon expiration of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) operating licenses for the two nuclear units. Unit 1 is set to expire in Nov. 2, 2024 while Unit 2 is set to expire Aug. 26, 2025. For many, the closure of Diablo Canyon, the last operational nuclear reactor in California, is a victory, especially after the disaster with the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011. However, for San Luis Coastal Unified School District (SLCUSD), this is a huge loss.
San Luis Coastal Unified School District gets the vast majority of its funding through local property taxes instead of state funding, which includes property tax from Diablo Canyon. The funding that the school district receives from Diablo Canyon’s property tax is estimated to total $7.7 to $8 million annually, approximately 11 to 12 percent of the district's annual funding. As PG&E sets to close down the facility over the next nine years, the tax that the school district receives will reduce and eventually lead to the school district needing to make cutbacks in order to make up for the approximate $8 million that they will be losing in yearly funding.
San Luis Coastal Unified School District gets the vast majority of its funding through local property taxes instead of state funding, which includes property tax from Diablo Canyon. The funding that the school district receives from Diablo Canyon’s property tax is estimated to total $7.7 to $8 million annually, approximately 11 to 12 percent of the district's annual funding. As PG&E sets to close down the facility over the next nine years, the tax that the school district receives will reduce and eventually lead to the school district needing to make cutbacks in order to make up for the approximate $8 million that they will be losing in yearly funding.
A breakdown of where SLCUSD gets its funding, based on the estimated budget from the 2015 - 2016 school year. The loss of revenue from Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant would be approximately 11 - 12 percent of the school district's yearly budget.
The decision to close Diablo Canyon came after a bill passed in the California Senate in 2015, SB 350, which calls for the increase of energy generated and sold created by renewable energy each year to be increased to 50 percent. In the closing of Diablo, PG&E will look to renewable energy options instead of nuclear resources. Nonetheless, PG&E has recognized that the closure of Diablo Canyon will impact the county, including the school district, and has come to an agreement with the county and SLCUSD to provide $75 million over the next nine years. The payment will be provided directly to the county in equal increments yearly, and the county will split up the funding with the impacted local agencies including SLCUSD which will get the majority of the funding.
However, this funding will only continue until the closure of Diablo Canyon in 2025, so SLCUSD has planned to incrementally make reductions to the budget yearly starting in 2017 through 2025. In 2025, the budget will have been reduced by nearly $7.7 million to fully cover the loss of all Diablo Canyon funding. The smallest of the budgets reductions will be during this coming year, but the impact is already being felt and the anticipation of further cutbacks is looming within the district. Marcy Todd, an attendance secretary at Morro Bay High School (MBHS) stated that she knows “there will be cutbacks, but I pray my job is not one of them.”
SLCUSD has not yet released where the cuts will be made to accommodate the budget reductions, but chief among the concerns are class sizes and programs in the arts. “I fear that our kids will have fewer opportunities, especially in terms of the Arts and fewer field trip opportunities,” April Stover, a Receptionist and the Athletic Secretary at MBHS, said. Art and other elective programs are typically one of the first that have their funding cut when push comes to shove for schools. The College Career Specialist at MBHS, Betty Ayotte, also expressed that she was concerned over the possible cutting of class sizes as well as other support services such as counseling.
Smaller class sizes, particularly from Kindergarten through 3rd grade, have been found to increase student achievement, especially when the class has under 20 students per teacher. For SLCUSD, the average number of students sits a bit above that ideal with an average of 22 students per class for Kindergarten and an average of 23 students per class for 1st through 3rd grade. This has been a point of pride for the school district, and they have striven in the past to keep the number low. However, the district has acknowledged that they may have to increase class sizes in order to successfully reduce the budget.
“All personnel will be forced to creatively plan the future,” Todd noted. SLCUSD has been looking for other funding opportunities and creative ways to reduce the budget without compromising the values the district’s values. Dr. Kyle Pruitt, the principal at MBHS, is confident that the district will successfully navigate the future. “Even with the reductions, we will be able to offer an incredibly rigorous, effective and engaging instructional program for our students,” Dr. Pruitt stated. “I am confident in my district’s ability to plan for the future.”
However, this funding will only continue until the closure of Diablo Canyon in 2025, so SLCUSD has planned to incrementally make reductions to the budget yearly starting in 2017 through 2025. In 2025, the budget will have been reduced by nearly $7.7 million to fully cover the loss of all Diablo Canyon funding. The smallest of the budgets reductions will be during this coming year, but the impact is already being felt and the anticipation of further cutbacks is looming within the district. Marcy Todd, an attendance secretary at Morro Bay High School (MBHS) stated that she knows “there will be cutbacks, but I pray my job is not one of them.”
SLCUSD has not yet released where the cuts will be made to accommodate the budget reductions, but chief among the concerns are class sizes and programs in the arts. “I fear that our kids will have fewer opportunities, especially in terms of the Arts and fewer field trip opportunities,” April Stover, a Receptionist and the Athletic Secretary at MBHS, said. Art and other elective programs are typically one of the first that have their funding cut when push comes to shove for schools. The College Career Specialist at MBHS, Betty Ayotte, also expressed that she was concerned over the possible cutting of class sizes as well as other support services such as counseling.
Smaller class sizes, particularly from Kindergarten through 3rd grade, have been found to increase student achievement, especially when the class has under 20 students per teacher. For SLCUSD, the average number of students sits a bit above that ideal with an average of 22 students per class for Kindergarten and an average of 23 students per class for 1st through 3rd grade. This has been a point of pride for the school district, and they have striven in the past to keep the number low. However, the district has acknowledged that they may have to increase class sizes in order to successfully reduce the budget.
“All personnel will be forced to creatively plan the future,” Todd noted. SLCUSD has been looking for other funding opportunities and creative ways to reduce the budget without compromising the values the district’s values. Dr. Kyle Pruitt, the principal at MBHS, is confident that the district will successfully navigate the future. “Even with the reductions, we will be able to offer an incredibly rigorous, effective and engaging instructional program for our students,” Dr. Pruitt stated. “I am confident in my district’s ability to plan for the future.”