Palisades High School Applies for Federal Paycheck Program; Salaries for 78 Teachers Top $95,000

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Palisades High School, a fiscally independent charter, has applied for federal money.

Palisades High School is a fiscally independent charter high school that rents its facilities from the Los Angeles Unified School District

Unlike LAUSD regular schools or affiliated charters, such as Palisades Elementary,Marquez Charter and Canyon School, PaliHi receives funding directly from the state government.

The school, which has been shut down since March 13 and is providing teaching via online classes, will face the same fiscal challenges as schools across California because Governor Newsom is asking for a $11.5 billion reduction in the education budget.

With that reduction, PaliHi, which is overseen by a board of trustees consisting of parents, teachers and non-teaching staff, voted on May 12 to apply for $4.6 million through the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program.

The program is a loan designed for small businesses to keep workers on the payroll. This federally funded loan program that originated from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, is administered through the Small Business Administration.

Loans may be forgiven if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest or utilities. The maximum a company could request was $10 million and the company had to have 500 employees or less.

How will PaliHi use the loan? In 2017-18, according to a story by local writer Laurel Busby, “The vast majority of the budget goes to pay salaries and benefits. About $14.5 million has been budgeted for faculty and administrator salaries, while $4.4 million will pay for classified positions. In addition, benefits, including STRS and PERS, will add $7.25 million to school expenses.”

According to PaliHi’s website, the estimated revenue for 2019-20 was $35,629,624, with salaries and benefits estimated at $25,873,808.

A May 19 story in Forbes (“Why California Is in Trouble – 340,000 Public Employees with $100,000 + Paychecks Cost Taxpayers $45 Billion”) contended that Governor Newsom had asked U.S. taxpayers for a bailout.

“The governor wrote a letter to Congress requesting $1 trillion in coronavirus 50-state aid. Then, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi obliged by adding $500 billion for the states into the HEROES Act – the bill passed and now awaits action in the Senate.”

The author, Adam Andrezejewski said “Before the COVID-19 crisis, state and local governments in California were plausibly operating. Now, with tax revenues dropping, underlying financial weaknesses are being exposed.”

He argued that “California, in other words, like many states with excessive pay and pension costs, is relying on the U.S. taxpayer to see them through the crisis.”

(https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2020/05/19/why-california-is-in-trouble–340000-public-employees-with-100000-paychecks-cost-taxpayers-45-billion/?fbclid=IwAR3UwH-6gaMYghogdErYAZuUjqMxD8ngAuq-5GZHp-0wglJQUOO0FxwwMhA#28b2357b5fb8)

The article shows how one can feed in a zip code and see all California Public employees and retirees who earn more than $100,000.

At least 78 employees at PaliHi made more than $95,000 a year in 2018-19.

(Visit: https://4.files.edl.io/5006/06/28/19/172351-f6e76224-6bd7-456b-bdd8-593c6357cc8f.pdf for 2019-20 PaliHi adopted budget recommendations.)

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