OUSD Public Meeting
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Ojai Unified School District Superintendent Tim Baird spoke for two hours to about 150 people who jammed Chaparral auditorium Wednesday night (March 26, 2008) to hear about possible cuts to Ojai public schools, including the suggested closure of two elementary schools – either Meiners Oaks or Mira Monte, and Summit in Upper Ojai. A final decision by the school board on closures could come as early as May 13, he said. Hard choices have to be made because proposed state budget cuts, declining enrollment and increased costs in areas such as employee health benefits and utilities equal a nearly $2 million hit to the district’s annual budget of about $25 million.
The time line for the Ojai Unified School District board of trustees to make budget decisions is short, with the next school board meeting set for April 1, with possible additional special meetings in April. Trustees could take certain proposed cuts off the table at the regularly scheduled May 6 school board meeting, Baird said. Then, he would likely call for a special school board meeting May 13 “where some pretty tough decisions are going to have to be made,” he said.
Projected savings are $300,000 for closing a large elementary school and $30,000 for closing the smallest – Summit.
The school board has opposed school closures in the past, Baird said. However, the budget crunch means the board needs at least to look at economies of scale, he said. Closing schools is “not an educational decision,” he said. It would be “an economic decision.”
Referencing a handout of possible cuts, Baird said, “Everything you hear tonight is bad…. Bad for kids, bad for the community.” However, he said that nothing on the list, which he and his staff generated, has been prioritized or approved by the school board.
He then went over the projected deficit, which has grown since the first list went out to the public at a March 4 school board meeting. As of Wednesday, projected deficits in the general fund totaled $1,942,055.
Nordhoff High School would absorb “most of the cuts on the list,” Baird said, adding, “Every school is on that list – one way or another.”
People should be paying attention to the cuts, even if they believe they are not affected because, Baird said, “By the time you get around to it mattering to you, it will be too late.”
Roughly half the estimated nearly $2 million OUSD shortfall is due to declining enrollment and the other half to anticipated state budget cuts, Baird said at the March 4 school board meeting.
Baird’s message was similar to the one he delivered at the March 4 and 18 school board meetings. On top of the projected state cuts, the district has had declining enrollment for about nine years. State funding for school districts is largely allocated by the number of students, so fewer students means less money.
Because the district has been dealing with declining enrollment and declining revenue longer than any other school district in the county, “There is no fat to cut,” he said.
Besides not knowing what the final state budget will be, the district is also estimating an 8 percent increase, or $371,000, in the cost of health benefits for employees, but will not know for certain until the end of the month, Baird said.
California is already 46th in the nation in per-pupil funding and, if the state budget cuts of 10 percent across the board are implemented, it will rank 49th, Baird said. “Something is very wrong with that equation,” he said, adding that California does not have a spending problem; it has an allocation problem. “We certainly don’t have a spending problem in our schools.”
Although the school board has said it does not want to increase class sizes from the 20 students-to-1 teacher ratio for K-3 and ninth-grade English and math, class sizes in other grades could be increased to about 35 students per class, Baird said.
Christel Kelsey, a parent of children at Mira Monte, echoed the comments she made at the March 18 school board meeting that, before the board considers closing elementary schools, it should consider K-8 configurations at the elementary schools and close Matilija Junior High School.
Baird said a committee has been looking at grade-school configurations and he will make a report to the board at a future date about possibilities. He said that any decisions about grade configurations, though, would be “curricular, not economic.” Parents’ assumption that closing Matilija Junior High would save the district money may not be accurate, he said, noting, “There are a lot of pieces to that puzzle.” He added that, “Closing Matilija doesn’t mean another school might not be closed.” Matilija itself could become a K-8 school, he said.
Glenn Fout, a parent of a Meiners Oaks student, said the K-8 decision “is more than just a curricular decision. It’s a community decision. It’s about the well-being of our communities.” By closing Matilija, the district “wouldn’t come out of it any worse than closing elementary schools.”
Another person in the audience suggested adding sixth grade to the junior high.
Fout also said that one option listed on the district’s projected budget deficit worksheet for saving $90,000 is one workday reduction. “I’m impressed we could save $90,000 with one day,” he said.
Fout also asked Baird about the impact of local resources to assist the district and “what is the point of no return to keep a campus open?”
Baird said that it is possible community donations could keep schools open, but that the money would be needed before salaries had to be paid. “We could not fund a school on a bake-sale model,” he said.
Asked about criteria for closing a school, Baird said that is “the $64,000 question” and a discussion for the school board, but typically includes issues such as schools’ proximity to other schools, geographical region, projection of future enrollment, physical plant and how students get to school.
One parent cautioned the Ojai school board to consider how Pleasant Valley School District’s decision to save money by closing two schools last year backfired. Closing schools does not always result in anticipated savings. It can actually cost the district a lot of money, she said, noting that the defection of more than 300 students to a charter school that disaffected parents started has ended up costing the Camarillo school district more than $1 million a year. “Why not take all the negative energy school closures will engender and funnel that into positive energy to help the board, not fight the board? This is, after all, Ojai,” she said.
Another parent also asked whether the board would consider putting another parcel tax on the ballot. Baird said that is a possibility and that there were some missteps the last time it was floated a few years ago, one being that a senior exemption was not included.
Another asked Baird if the city of Ojai could pitch in. Some other city governments have helped their school districts raise money, Baird said, so that while it is unlikely, given the city's own financial challenges, it is possible.
“I know this is going to get ugly,” Baird said. Before that happens and people “splinter into groups,” he asked that they write to the governor and their legislators that the proposed state budget cuts are “totally unacceptable and we won’t stand for it.” That got the most applause of the evening.
San Antonio School parents have already printed neon-green postcards addressed to local legislators, needing only a community members’ letter and a postcard stamp.
One positive note, Baird mentioned, is that declining enrollment at OUSD appears to have hit bottom and that enrollment is now moving up, with higher-than-anticipated enrollment of kindergartners, especially.
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Comments (11)
exciting news! home schooling is open to all California children. and books! and we have teachers from every culture and the entire planet on the internet.
Comment #1 Posted by: Roshi | March 27, 2008 09:27 AM
Thanks for posting this for those who could not make the meeting. I've been speaking with many in the community on how to deal with the crisis in terms of the impact on arts education. I'd like to comments from others on this subject.
Comment #2 Posted by: Demitri | March 27, 2008 02:09 PM
Demitri,
how well is arts 'articulated' into the young of Goddess Moon? what would be your ideal and practical suggestion for immersing students in their process of inward understanding and definition, and outward connecting, expressing?
looks like a great opportunity for a valley-wide artistic awakening -- this taking responsibility for the development of our children's matriculation into the Blue Star ... global consciousness ... la familia munda ...
Comment #3 Posted by: Millennium | March 27, 2008 10:04 PM
Enrollment is going to come way up. The demographics show a bubble coming down the line and the schools, after No Child Left Behind and years of concerted underfunding, are going to simply break under the strain. The systematic destruction of our schools should be unacceptable in our society. Perhaps we should stage something for the media focusing on the plight of schools and the ridiculous budget from the Governor. I believe he\'s purchased some property here in the valley hasn\'t he? Perhaps some sort of siege protest is in order.
Comment #4 Posted by: Cue the revolution | March 28, 2008 10:27 AM
On a related note: Can anyone confirm whether the following two things I have just heard in our rumorfluous town are true?
1. One of our Ojai public elementary schools has reported a student and parent to the District Attorney, for criminal prosecution, for having too many "tardies"? That is, apparently failing to have her kid's butt on the seat on the very second the bell rings in the morning, for more than the alotted number of times that are apparently allowed during the year (one or two or three or four?)
2. Another of our elementary schools employs a person for exactly the purpose of standing at the school entrance recording the name of any student who is not inside with butt in seat on the minute the bell rings, apparently for purpose of (1)?
Any enlightenment or knowledge on this would be greatly appreciated.
Comment #5 Posted by: Anonymous | March 28, 2008 11:56 PM
certainly the method and purpose of the public school system is one of incarceration -- a day prison -- and training/programming children to be soldiers and slaves.
I don't know the answer to whether tardiness is a criminal court crime, yet certainly 'non-responsiveness' by parents to the government orders -- re: gov't control over their children -- would be.
the way out is to take your children out of the public school system by filing the annual paperwork with the State of California for home schooling. [thank you, Rashi!]
you are then obliged to keep daily records of the hours your child spends in study, and I assume some amount of categorization of the areas of studies engaged in.
there are many experts available in the Ojai Valley to guide parents in the process of homeschooling, for those parents who are 'tardy' in simply ringing up Sacramento and requesting the forms and paperwork ...
Comment #6 Posted by: Millennium | March 29, 2008 04:20 PM
The Ojai Valley needs a Waldorf school. http://www.mothering.com/articles/growing_child/education/waldorf.html
This could take the form of a charter school.Please check out the link above and reply with comments to this post. It is a beautiful way of educating the whole child.
Comment #7 Posted by: positive thoughts | March 29, 2008 10:35 PM
The No Child Left Behind policy has destroyed our public schools. Testing, testing, testing. I'm scraping the barrel to send my kid to a private school. I moved here for public schools - heard they were great. But everywhere you go it is all about testing. And is it fair? Unbiased? No. It's like IQ testing - biased and not a true representation of the individual. Drop No Child Left Behind and maybe our schools will come back.
Comment #8 Posted by: kate | March 29, 2008 10:54 PM
truly, the Waldorf/Steiner schools are an example of a better alternative to the State's sick Corporate / Political / Cultural Indoctrination school system.
for any parents or community mentors who want to help set up an Ojai Valley system of whole, loving, multicultural, multitechnical, multiartistic, multilanguage, self-inspiring/motivating, healthy, nurturing learning programs to support the evolution of integrity, respect, and responsibility for our youth -- lives in recognition of the harmonies of nature and community -- from which true freedom and spiritual realization derives -- I am honored to offer my time and experience to the project.
Comment #9 Posted by: Millennium | March 30, 2008 08:18 AM
Regarding the questions about tardiness and lawsuit...
I don't believe this to be true.
The schools do monitor attendance; they must, as this is how they receive state funding based on student attendance. At my daughter's school, MO Elementary, the crossing guard keeps track of late arrivals after the street clears.
One may have their problems with public education, but it's what we've got and there are a great number of teachers and parents working hard to make it work.
Comment #10 Posted by: Glenn Fout | March 30, 2008 08:43 PM
Not only are there a great number of teachers and parents working hard to make the public system work - Our small schools DO work for many of us. By closing schools, more children would be forced to go to larger schools, where more of them would get lost in the shuffle. The teachers and people who work with our children would be less able to give the individual time and attention that Ojai's children are so fortunate to receive.
I know that a lot of people are against public school education. I know that I had some difficult times in our local schools. Public school doesn't work for everyone. Nothing in life works for everyone. That is the beauty of being individuals.
I also know that homeschool and Waldorf and private schools are not an option for all parents. Many people choose to work rather than homeschool their children. I personally am a stay at home mom, who chooses to participate at the school where I send my two children. I choose not to homeschool. I know many homeschooling families and it works for them.
If there was a Waldorf school here, I would be excited for the possibility for my children, but I don't know if we could afford it. Even if there was a Waldorf school in Ojai there are still many people who would not necessarily subscribe to the philosophy or could not afford to send their children there.
I don't know how many of you went to local public schools, but there really is a lot of good to be found there. We have a growing number of young supportive people with new ideas and energy in the classroom. My son has thrived at Summit School.
And regardless of where you would send your child, we all should recognize the value of providing more funding in education. These are the people your kids are going to work with or meet up with in the park or start a band with or fall in love with. I want your children to be provided for, just as much as I want my children to be provided for.
Comment #11 Posted by: Lauren | April 1, 2008 09:05 AM