Town Hall Meeting 4/13
Schools Plus is holding a community, town hall meeting on April 13, 2010, at Santa Rosa High School's auditorium: 6:45 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Santa Rosa may cut school year, spring sports
Published on February 8, 2010
By KERRY BENEFIELD, The Press Democrat
Santa Rosa's school board Wednesday will consider cutting three days from the upcoming school year, along with eliminating spring sports and more than seven librarians, in a quest to save $5.6 million.
The county's largest school district expects to save more than $1.3 million if it shortens the school year by three days. It is the largest item in the district's debate over how to cut the $5.6 million from its $88.2 million general fund.
That cut is subject to negotiation with affected employee unions and has yet to be agreed to by the Santa Rosa Teachers Association, for which three fewer work days would translate to a pay cut of about 1.5 percent.
"We're close but we don't have a tentative agreement," said Dan Evans, president of the teachers' union. "They (the board) are going to have to do something with a qualified vote."
Board members long have warned that without a shortened school year even deeper cuts would be imminent.
Click here to read the full story at PressDemocrat.com
Santa Rosa Schools facing $5.6 million in cuts
Published on January 26, 2010
By KERRY BENEFIELD, The Press Democrat
The Santa Rosa City School Board is considering increasing class sizes, cutting campus police officers and slashing campus discretionary funds as a way to reach an estimated $5.6 million in cuts from next year's budget.
Looming large over those discussions is whether to shorten the the next school year by as many as five days for a savings of $2.1 million.
The board is expected to take action Wednesday night on class sizes and the police presence on campus, as well as continuing a downsizing of adult education programs.
And then on Feb. 10, the board is likely to consider further reductions from a preliminary $88.2 million budget for next year that far exceeds anticipated revenue.
Click here to read the full story at PressDemocrat.com
Schools Plus Presents: The 1st Annual Redwood Empire Hoops Symposium
"An evening with The Coaches"
Hosted by Santa Rosa Golf & Country Club
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Santa Rosa Golf & Country Club
333 Country Club Drive
Santa Rosa, CA
The goal of this symposium is to bring together local NBL/SCL high school basketball coaches, parents and fans to discuss the upcoming basketball season, the plays and the playmakers.
The format will be special guests and coach presentations, detailing past and future hoops dreams.
Benefiting Schools Plus Programs
Brought to you in part by: 
Thank you to all of those who participated in the 2009
Friedman's Annual Golf Tournament Benefitting Schools Plus
Updated On: September 1st, 2009
Thank you for your generous donation:
SchoolsPlus would like to thank The Robert and Shirley Harris Foundation and the North Bay Builders' Exchange for their continued support.
Santa Rosa schools tackle budget cuts
Posted On: March 4th, 2009
By KERRY BENEFIELD, The Press Democrat
The Santa Rosa School board moved forward Wednesday with millions of dollars in proposed cuts that will increase class sizes, eliminate library improvements, limit classroom supplies, and impact dozens of other programs.
The district also will examine administrative spending in the district office in search of money.
Hundreds of people packed council chambers at Santa Rosa City Hall on Wednesday, standing three-deep as they listened to the district try to prioritize $10 million in budget cuts over the next two years.
The board isn’t expected to give final approval to the plan for weeks and will hold a public hearing before taking final action on $3.4 million in cuts or revenue loss this year and another $5 million next year. The district faces an additional $1.6¬million in loses to specific programs funded by the state.
With the millions in funding the state eliminated, it has also given districts unprecedented flexibility in how local officials choose to spend the money they do get. That freedom has allowed the board to consider a budget that can pull money from previously protected programs into the general fund.
Click here to read the full story at PressDemocrat.com
Schools bracing for major budget cuts
Posted On: January 2, 2009, pressdemocrat.com
By KERRY BENEFIELD, The Press Democrat
When the state budget deficit loomed around $17 billion last spring, Santa Rosa City Schools created lists of potential budget cuts that included closing schools, paring back sports programs and closing libraries.
And then the numbers from Sacramento got worse. And worse again.
The deficit is now expected to balloon to $42 billion during the next 18 months.
On Wednesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled yet another plan -- this one including shortening the 2009-10 school year by five days to save the state $1.1 billion.
The question is no longer whether schools will get hit with making cuts halfway through this school year, but how deep those cuts will go and what funding will look like in 2009-10.
"The depth of cuts that we are looking at is not to be dismissed as a short-term phenomenon or something that can be absorbed without severely impacting programs and people in our district," said Doug Bower, Santa Rosa City Schools associate superintendent.
Last spring, board members sliced more than $2 million from the current school year's budget and used $1.8 million in reserves to keep from making deeper cuts. A bigger hit was expected for the 2009-10 school year.