Cyndi Loza

Students are not likely to notice any cuts to education this year, but “the effect will be really in what they don’t see,” Superintendent Paul Dugan said in a special joint session Monday.

Dugan discussed the impact of state-mandated K-12 budget cuts Monday morning in the joint meeting among Sparks and Reno city councils, the Washoe County School District and Washoe County commissioners.

“We felt it would be something that the cities and county would be interested in hearing of how we are dealing with our budget cuts,” Dugan said.

In December, Gov. Jim Gibbons ordered a 4.5 percent statewide cut that reduced funding to school districts by $95 million over the next two years. In May, Gibbons asked agencies and school districts to present “what-if” budgets with 14 percent cuts to operating costs for the 2009-11 school years.

In June, a special Legislative session was held where school districts were directed to cut an additional 3.3 percent in addition to statewide textbook cuts for the 2008-09 school year.

To adhere to the 4.5 percent cuts, Dugan said the district postponed some actions this year, such as adoption of new K-5 science textbooks and expansion of full-day kindergarten.

“I would guess that if you asked the typical student, ‘Hey, with all the cuts, have you noticed anything?’ Unless they’re mistaken, they won’t be able to say, ‘Well, yeah, my classes are much bigger,’ because we haven’t raised class size,” Dugan said.

But that won’t be the case with the 14 percent cuts, he said.

“At a minimum, my guess would be, it would increase class size.” Dugan said. “And if the state pulls back some of their programs, that will have a dramatic effect on supplemental educational programs that have been put in place, and professional development for teachers and those types of things that obviously are critical to a world-class district.”

Also at the meeting, Reno developer Perry DiLoreto addressed the inequality in technology and facilities between new and older district schools.

“I personally consider it not moral,” DiLoreto said. “I’m offended we have such disparity.”

DiLoreto was one of the 15 members of the School Construction and Revitalization Advisory Committee.

Its members agreed unanimously in April about asking voters Nov. 4 to approve an increase in vehicle registration fees and sales tax to sell $393 million in bonds for school repairs and new technology.