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Lagunitas says 'no thanks' to $100,000 in state aid
(The Marin Independent Journal Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Nov. 19--The Lagunitas School District board has turned down $100,000 in state grant money, despite a budget crunch that could lead to layoffs next year.
School officials say they can't accept the money -- provided under the federal No Child Left Behind Act -- because it is meant to help schools boost students' scores on the California Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) exam. Parents of more than a third of the district's 300 students have boycotted the exam since 2004.
"There's no way for us to make more children take the test by paying them," said Denise Santa Cruz-Bohman, a district trustee. "We're at the point where we would love to have the $100,000, but it's not money we could use."
The board, which had previously turned down $30,000 in federal Title I funds, voted unanimously to reject the grant at its meeting Tuesday. Trustee Steve Rebscher was absent.
"We're hoping that some district that can improve its test scores with the money will get it," Santa Cruz-Bohman said. "It's kind of insane that the state is cutting money like crazy, but sending us $100,000 we can't use."
As with almost every school district in California, Lagunitas is bracing for proposed mid-year cuts of up to $2 billion from the state's education budget, in addition to the $3 billion already cut from K-12 funding in the current budget. Superintendent Lawrence Enos said the district was unlikely to lay off teachers or staff this year -- but next year could be a different story.
"We're
doing everything we can to avoid layoffs in this current year, but almost certainly unless there's a major turnaround somewhere, we'll be recommending them for the coming year," Enos said. The district would have until March 15, 2009 to notify teachers and May 15 to notify classified employees, he said.
Adding an extra $100,000 to the budget would help, Enos said -- but it would also come with strings attached.
"That $100,000 would include requirements for completely revamping our curriculum and professional development, for bringing in outside consultants and facilitators," Enos said. "We want nothing to do with any of that."
State officials declared in February that Lagunitas had failed to meet improvement goals -- due to lack of participation -- for three years, and that the district receive penalties ranging from having to adopt a state curriculum to falling into receivership. Enos believes it's unlikely the state will make good on its threats.
"Right now the state has its hands full, since another 100 school districts just moved into program improvement," said Enos, who added that the election of a new president could also mean an overhaul of the controversial No Child Left Behind Act, which ties federal funding to test scores. "It's unlikely in the short term that we'll see further corrective action towards districts like Lagunitas."
Contact Rob Rogers via e-mail at rrogers@marinij.com
Read more West Marin stories at the IJ's West Marin section.
To see more of The Marin Independent Journal or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.marinij.com/.
Copyright (c) 2008, The Marin Independent Journal, Novato, Calif.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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