LA JOLLA — Teachers, parents and administrators discussed the future of public education on Jan. 19 at an emergency budget meeting at La Jolla High School. LJHS principal Dana Shelburne led the audience of about 30 through the intricacies of the school board’s 2011/2012 proposed “site-based budgeting” plan. Under the plan, each school, or “site,” will be given a base allocation from the state, which covers the cost of a principal and teachers only. Any additional expenditures, including counsellors, vice principals, janitors and librarians, will have to come out of a “discretionary fund,” and schools are allowed to decide individually how they would like to prioritize that money. “I don’t know how you run a school without counsellors, without a vice principal, without librarians,” said Shelburne. “I don’t know how you run a school without any of these things.” The San Diego Unified School District is expecting a deficit of $120 million next year. For a mid-sized high school like LJHS, the discretionary fund totals $1.1 million. Though administrators are unsure of exactly what cuts will need to be made, it appears that reductions are inevitable. Speaking at the budget meeting on Jan. 19, Shelburne voiced his concern about drastic changes. “It is my belief that the programs we have are the programs that serve our students well,” he said. “I am not in favor of getting rid of any programs. I don’t think our students need any turmoil in their day-to-day existence.”