The Simi Valley School Board voted unanimously on Tuesday to pass the $145-million budget for Simi Valley public schools.

The next step is sending the budget to Sacramento for approval, then revising it locally for final approval in August.

The state uses average daily attendance to determine how much money districts get each year. Funding for Simi Valley Unified School District will be down about $174,000 next year because the average daily attendance is expected to be down by 174 students. That will bring the number of Simi Valley students to 20,223.

District overtime was cut by 75 percent and is now used for emergencies only, SVUSD Assistant Superintendent Lowell Schultze said.

A bit of a surprise at the school board meeting was the announcement that the large discretionary block grant was cut from $1.15 billion to $533.5 million, 75 percent of which is going directly to school sites.

Commenting on the budget approval, Schultze said, "I think it went fine. It's difficult to put a proper budget together using statistics from May. Overall we're going to have a good budget and the board understands there will be changes in the 45day revisions."

High school meals in Simi Valley will remain at $2.50, a full dollar less than lunches served in the Conejo Valley. State lottery money will give every student an additional $148 this year.

A committee made up of board members and staff has been discussing and juggling the budget for the past several months. SVUSD's budget includes a 5.92 percent cost-ofliving increase and an additional $71 per student under the state equalization plan. About $4 million would be put into the district's reserves.

The district's general fund will see an increase of 3.1 percent in the coming year. The district receives other money from state, federal and private sources to operate special programs. Schultze said he's expecting less federal money in 2006-07.

During 2005-06, the district received $7.9 million from the federal government. In 2006-07, about $5.7 million is expected.

Over the past year, as more money has come into the district, some previous cuts were reinstated, including a nurse position and some clerical staff in the schools.

With this new budget, four full-time special education teachers will be added back into the budget. Also, the budget committee has proposed spending $430,000 on intervention programs at the middle-school level. Now all three levels-elementary, middle and high schools- will have programs to help students make good choices about avoiding drugs and addressing prejudice.

Cuts made in the last few years that will not be reinstated in this budget include a 10 percent reduction in custodial staff, several office clerks in the schools and some staff members at the district office and Santa Susana High School. None of the cuts were actual layoffs, Schultze said. All were vacant positions that were taken off the job list.