ELEMENTARY CASH:

Faced with dwindling enrollment and a projected 2006-07 budget
with little to no wiggle room, the Santa Barbara School Board began
the arduous task this week of looking at possible cuts. Though
talks are still preliminary, the board voted unanimously Tuesday
night to continue further down the path of compiling a list of
budget cuts, as well as to secure quotes from fiscal consultants to
conduct a study of the district’s current and compounding financial
problems. The preliminary list of possible cuts includes
elementary-school music programs, nurses and supplies, library
media services, and psychologists.