Doomsday will have to wait for the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) — at least until 2012, if it comes at all. As it prepared for the final school board meeting of the year on Dec. 13, SDUSD trustees learned that mid-year cuts from the state of California had been scaled back to $7 million, not $30 million as originally projected. However, the district is still in a holding pattern as it waits for more news in January on the state budget from Gov. Jerry Brown. At its meeting Tuesday, the school board adopted a preliminary budget for the 2012-13 school year. The budget includes using proceeds from real-estate sales, reaching into reserves and eliminating 15 vacant nonteaching positions. However, that still leaves a $73 million shortfall for the 2012-13 school year, another budget gap that will have to be resolved in the new year. The board has until June 30 to approve a final budget. SDUSD Superintendent Bill Kowba said the school board is committed to maintaining financial solvency and will do all it can to safeguard K-12 education. In other business, the board closed the book on a school realignment and closure plan that was set in motion in October by the state’s projected revenue cuts. What started as a plan to close 14 schools citywide ended as a five-point plan with one school OK’d for closure in Point Loma. The school board gave the go-ahead to close the Barnard Elementary School site once the Mandarin Chinese language program that uses the school finds another facility in the district where it can grow into a Pacific Rim language academy. The Mandarin language program will likely remain at Barnard for the 2012-13 school year, district officials said. The board also approved a proclamation for the Mandarin program that will help it continue to secure grants and independent funding. The district hopes to generate about $21 million in revenue by the combined sale of the Barnard site; the Mission Beach administrative site near Belmont Park; and Bay Terraces 11, an empty lot in Southeast San Diego. The district also expects to save $2.3 million in Proposition S money that it would have spent to renovate Barnard. Other actions the board took that affect Point Loma cluster schools: Swimming facilities: The trustees approved an agreement with the Peninsula Family YMCA for Point Loma High School (PLHS) students to use the swimming facility for practices and games. Because the school does not have an on-campus pool and there is a lack of city pools available, PLHS students have used various pools over the years for the swimming program. The YMCA swimming facilities at 4390 Valeta St. will be used for PLHS practices and games from Feb. 21 to May 26 from 2:45 to 4:15 p.m., Mondays through Thursdays. The cost is $45 per hour.

Weight room: The board approved an additional expense of $30,000 for removal of unforeseen wet soil at the PLHS weight room’s building project. To construct a new fire lane, an existing sand pit was to be removed and backfilled with new material prior to paving. Once excavated to the proper elevation, the existing soil was found to be too wet to allow for proper backfill and compaction. The construction budget for the weight room was $931,989. The contract was approved and awarded this May in the amount of $675,070. Change orders have increased the contract value to $729,998.61, which is within budget.