ESCONDIDO – Jennifer Walters is in her third year as Escondido Union school superintendent after five years as deputy superintendent of education services. In working on a 2008-09 budget, the district and its board cut $7 million from its 17 elementary and five middle schools because of state funding reductions.

In a recent interview, Walters reflected on those challenges and the year ahead.

QUESTION: The district has been through a painful budget process. What changes will elementary-age kids and their parents notice first when school resumes?

Jennifer Walters Superintendent, Escondido Union School District Place of residence: Escondido Age: 50

School and district staff will do everything they can to make the budget reductions as invisible as possible. One of the most obvious changes would be (having) 30 students in our kindergarten classrooms instead of 20. For half of the session, there will be two certificated teachers in the classroom. It still doesn't change the fact there will be 30 students one teacher will be responsible for in terms of grading and getting to know the parents.

The second change (is) the libraries will only be open half the time. If students were used to a weekly visit, it might (now) be a biweekly visit.

What about the middle schools?

The biggest change will be that there'll be one less assistant principal on campus and one to two fewer counselors.

We won't actually know (the impact) until we begin the school year. The teaching staff will have to be perhaps more involved. They already are when it comes to identifying struggling students or at-risk student needs.

The first budget proposal from the governor forced you to contemplate layoffs and cuts deeper than those ultimately imposed. Do you resent the exercise you were put through?

It's frustrating to build a budget on a state budget that isn't really a budget. The governor's January proposal was really a first step in a long political conversation. In most years, I would consider it my job to protect students, parents and employees from having to be drawn into that conversation. My goal would be to work internally until the May revise, come up with a budget that works and move forward.

So the frustrating part was, (it) required me to upset all the stakeholders because of the Draconian cuts proposed. It really distracted our organization from teaching and learning. Parents worried about services and what it meant for their children.

If the state budget picture improves after the school year is under way, is there going to be trouble undoing cutbacks that have already been imposed?

If there is an ongoing revenue source the school board can be certain of, then it's easier to put back those people. If the dollars seem really shaky, I don't know that the board would necessarily put back all the unfunded priorities if it meant having to put those services on the chopping block again next spring.

What were the most positive notes for the district in the 2007-08 school year?

We really were able to pinpoint a singular instructional focus on reading comprehension, and to do two things research says will increase achievement: bring more effective teaching into the classroom on reading-comprehension strategies, and give more feedback to students.

What has to be done for the district to comply with the state Board of Education mandate that all eighth-grade students take and be tested in algebra beginning in 2011?

We've had very specific criteria in the hopes that students who do take Algebra I will be successful. Simply taking the course isn't enough, it's scoring at a proficient or advanced range.

We have a new mathematics textbook adoption beginning this year. We will look carefully for a whole year with a committee of teachers (at) which textbooks are likely to best meet our students' needs. We'll have to increase our professional development of all our teachers, both elementary and at the middle school.