Board closes day-care center
By Linda Harmon
It may be time to deck the halls but the Ojai Unified School District’s board meeting last week was about clearing the decks and balancing the books. The four-hour meeting saw the election of board officers and set the course for two major decisions. The most far-reaching decision was the adoption of the district’s First Interim Report for the 2009-2010 school year, anticipating draconian budget cuts if help doesn’t arrive quickly from the state or federal government. The second decision, of more limited scope, was the recommendation by superintendent Henry Bangser for a June 30 closing of the infant center portion of OUSD’s A Place To Grow day-care center.
During budget discussions three alternatives were set forth by Bangser and staff, including two using part of the state-mandated 3 percent reserves. In a normal economy reserves are left untouched. However, this is not a normal economy and declining enrollment over the last 10 years has added to budget headaches.
According to assistant superintendent Danielle Pusatere, the budget has previously been balanced largely through the use of one-time funds, including grants and funds from President Obama’s stimulus package. Those one-time funds are no longer available and put pressure for future cuts to come from staffing cuts. According to Pusatere, the district’s approximately $25 million budget contains $21 million in “people expenditures,” funds needed for staff salaries and benefits.
Dipping into reserves appears to be the only possible solution if the district wants to maintain current services. The state does allow flexibility in reserve use and would allow the district to use mandated reserve funds if its Interim Report includes a plan to recover the funds in future years.
“I’m not afraid to be the only district in the county to do something (different),” said newly elected Board President Kathy Smith, responding to concerns about using the reserves. “We did it last year and it was successful.”
Smith was referring to negotiated union contract concessions, a formula allowing the elimination of up to five school days depending on the depth of budget cuts. That deal allowed the district to weather this year’s budget shortfall.
After a lengthy discussion, the board took a middle ground in reaching a balanced budget for next year. They will maintain a 1 percent reserve for the 2010-2011 school year and then work toward increasing that amount to 1.25 percent in 2011-2012 and the remainder in following school years, hoping the economy improves and/or government funding is raised.
“These numbers are not sacred,” said Bangser, adding the numbers can be adjusted. “Our goal is to do our best — and this is what we have to work with at this point in time.”
Board Member Linda Taylor, who began her teaching career in 1963, summed up the mood in the room this way, “This is the most depressing thing I’ve seen in all my years of teaching.”
In keeping with tightening budget constraints, the board accepted Bangser’s recommendations to close the infant center despite its staff’s positive performance and achievements providing screening for special needs children.
“A Place to Grow is very visionary,” said Jean Smith, spokesman for the infant center and an expert in child development, who detailed all the reasons to keep the infant center open. According to Smith the center fulfills needs others in the county do not. It accepts state vouchers, special needs children, and breast-feeding and cloth-diapered infants. Smith also said in view of declining funding in K-12, OUSD is missing the boat if it turns its back on the opportunities for upcoming funding available in the early childhood development area under the Obama administration. “The infant center is a shovel-ready project.”
Bangser and the board were not swayed.
“It is one of my saddest moments as a superintendent to come before you and ask that a successful program be set aside,” said Bangser. “It is not something anyone wants to do. In a good world, not even a perfect world, I would love to keep this program open.”
Despite Bangser’s feelings of remorse, he feels the district will be best served by “phasing it out and putting its resources into an expanded pre-school center in September.” According to Bangser, conditions have changed since its inception with 40 percent of those served coming from outside the Ojai Valley and the inability of the district to give the center a longtime commitment to funding.
Taylor thanked the center’s head teacher, Bonnie Patton, for “all the love and support” she has given the children, and Board Member Pauline Mercado urged Patton to pursue alternative grant funding for the infant center.
“It is so sad because there is a need,” said Patton, after the board’s decision. “No one is walking away. All my people are community people and they care about kids. They are staying to help reopen a new improved preschool. Anyone who wants to get involved can call us at 640-4300, Ext. 1092.”
Dipping into the reserves is great, but what is the “back up plan”. Oh wait the reserves are the “back up plan”.
anonymous
16 Dec 09 at 6:30 pm