Officials in the San Bruno school district facing drastic cuts brought forth by an ongoing, crippling deficit are cautiously optimistic regarding a rare opportunity to improve the its historically bleak budget outlook through a possible influx of money from the state and cost savings offered by employees. The San Bruno Park Elementary School District Board of T ru stees is set to prioritize which education programs cu rrently on the choppi ng block will be the first reinstated, should the district’s financial pro- jections improve du e to the May revision of Gov. Jerry Brow n’s state budget proposal, expected to be announced this week. The board will meet Wednesday, May 13, to weigh keeping libraries open, hiring back maintenance staff whose jobs are threatened and reconsider ing a pl an to sh are princi- pals between school sites, should the district’s budget projections improve. Officials approved cutting those programs last month, to develop a budget that proved fiscal solvency over coming years, with an eye on restoring the services should the state budget include more money for public schools than was initially anticipated. And as indications coming from the Capito l are that the st ate’ s budg- et has grown, leaving more money for education, San Bruno officials are hopeful the new budget will allow them to keep in place essen- tial programs. “Am I optimistic?

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Yes,” said Gary Pettinari, head of the district’s clas- sified union. “I hope the May revise, and the actual bu dget, is a li t- tle sweeter than was originally stat- ed.” Concurrent to the rosy projection from the state, the board stands to consider a recomme ndation to over- haul the district’s special education transportation program by using classified workers, which could be a sour ce of ongoing savings. The county’s chief elections officer is urging all jurisdictions with scheduled elections this November to participate in a pilot program to have all ballots cast by mail ra ther than at the po lls. The program will hopefully increase voter turnout, produce faster results, reduce risk of error and d ecrea se election s cost s, Mark Churc h, San Mateo County’s chief elections officer and assessor- county clerk-record er, tol d the San Carlos City Council Monday night. The council then voted 4-0 to joi n the pil ot prog ram, which is an effort by the state Legislature to provi de “a c om- plete picture of the effects of all-mail ballot elections,” Church said.

Yolo and San Mateo counties are participating in the pilot, which was approved by state law- makers in Au gust with th e passage of Assembly Bill 2028, authored by Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, D-South San Francisco. It gives San Mateo Cou nty t he authority to. As Bay A rea rents sky rocket with no sign of slowing down, the col- laborative efforts of San Mateo o ffi- cials and three developers are com- ing to a timely fruition as a new apartment complex dedicated to workforce housing is preparing to welcome its first tenants. Loca ted at the cit y’s former police statio n, 2000 De lawa re w ill o ffe r 60 two-bedroom units to moderate- income renters with priority given to public sector employees of the city as well as the San Mateo Union High and the San Mateo-Foster City Elementary school districts. The City Council initiated its largest workforce housing project to date several year s ago as it sought to create an integrated housing com- plex for people of various incomes. “We’ve always had a policy of trying to help our city employees who are in safety positions like police and fire, but also teachers and librarians and nurses, they’re people who we real- ly de pend on for our safety.