As the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) grapples with a deficit of up to $100 million, the Point Loma Cluster Schools Foundation (PLCSF) is asking to be a part of the school district budget discussion — and not just through a simple survey. The foundation of 10 local schools sent a letter to the district’s board of education Nov. 17 asking exactly that. As a result of the district’s ballooning deficit since cuts were first considered in June, district spokesman Jack Brandais said everything is on the table. Money-saving ideas mentioned in June included class size increases, mandatory districtwide four-day furloughs, reductions in salaries and a number of staff positions being eliminated. With all those things under consideration, PLSCF wants to have a voice as budget decisions are made for the 2010-11 school year. “Our cluster has been advocating for more control to the clusters, to the communities where the schools are at, because one size does not fit all,” said PLCSF president Christy Scadden. “We want to be able to sit down and have a say, to have a seat at the decision-making table.” Scadden said the foundation would participate in the community-at-large survey presented by the district earlier this month. But she also said the survey alone is not a satisfactory solution. “We actually want to contribute and collaborate,” Scadden said. “We want to sit down at the table with the decision makers and look at possible solutions and how we can get more control for the clusters.” According to Scadden, the foundation does not believe making changes across the board within the SDUSD is the best decision. Foundation members think cuts should be tailored to individual schools and communities. “Things that some schools might choose as being important in their cluster might look different from one side of San Diego to another,” Scadden said. “It makes sense for communities to be able to decide what’s best for them.” District board of education representative John de Beck — who represents the majority of schools in San Diego’s beach communities, including Ocean Beach and Point Loma — said he has read the PLCSF letter. He said he agrees with the foundation’s wishes, but explained the PLCSF could not participate in the district’s Budget Reduction Alternatives to Conserve Education (BRACE) committee. “They’re right that they should have had at least an opportunity,” de Beck said. “I would have suggested for them to be on [BRACE], but that committee is basically a superintendent operation, not a community operation.” De Beck considers the idea of choosing a number of small school programs to be cut as a form of cannibalism. He wants to come up with a larger-scale solution to fight the mammoth budget problem. “If they [school foundations] want to say something, let them say something big instead of talking about which little thing we’re going to whittle away at,” de Beck said. “We need to propose something that makes everybody bear the burden.” De Beck’s wide-scale solution to solve the district’s budget crisis is furloughs throughout the school year. He said these periodic days off would save the district about $6 million per day. “I want to leave everything alone and just cut the days,” de Beck said. “That won’t mean any layoffs and that won’t mean we lose any talent.” Over the next three weeks, community members have a chance to provide input at five town hall budget meetings. The first meeting was held Nov. 19 at Serra High and future meetings will be held Dec. 3 at San Diego High, Dec. 8 at Madison High. Dec. 9 at Mission Bay High, and Dec. 14 at Porter Elementary North. All meetings run from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. For more information, visit www.sandi.net/budget. The Point Loma Cluster Schools Foundation is online at www.pointlomacluster.com.