The Time of Free Public Education in CA is Over, Superintendent Says

But for the lack of perpetually ringing telephones, this week's town hall meeting at La Cañada High School had all the makings of a telethon. 

Moderator Craig Mazin mixed levity with stone-faced seriousness as he pointed out the district’s grave need for donations, in between asking members of the La Cañada Flintridge Educational Foundation Task Force to explain how grim the fiscal situation really is.  The Task Force is a superintendent's Committee officially chartered by the LCUSD Governing Board.

“Nothing is coming from Washington, the state is bankrupt…This has to be a community solution,’’ said Scott Tracy, a member of the La Cañada Unified School District Board of Education.

Tracy on Wednesday joined panelists Supt. Jim Stratton, Foundation President Valerie Aenlle-Rocha, board member Joel Peterson and La Cañada realtor Janice McGlashan to discuss the district’s financial crisis in front of a standing-room only crowd in the auditorium. Mazin, a board member for the foundation, a non-profit organization that raises money for the district, asked questions previously submitted by the community.

While the town hall meeting was the foundation’s official kickoff to this year’s campaign, a preponderance of raised hands, indicating those who’d already donated, boded well for a school district that is $6 million away from the low student-to teacher ratios, secured teaching positions and programs of its last fiscally flush school year – 2007-08.

The foundation presented Stratton with its annual $1.1 million check (from the previous year’s fund-raising) earlier in the week. Based on the donation rate so far this school year, Aenelle-Rocha said, the foundation is on track to give $2.2 million next year.

But it's not enough, officials said.

And after detailed explanation of how districts from similar demographics, such as San Marino and Manhattan Beach, have long requested that its families donate upwards of $1,000, the fact that the LCFEF is asking this year for $2,500 per family means La Cañada is late to the lofty contributions party.

“It’s kind of like we were getting away with it, and now that time is up,’’ said audience member Susan Owen, whose children attend a district elementary school. Owen and her husband Greg McCollum, who have donated, attended the meeting to get a clear picture of the district’s financial situation.

Moderator Mazin looked into the audience and asked if the answer for La Cañada is the incredibly unappetizing answer of money?

Unequivocally, yes, said the panelists.

So the era of a free public education in California is over, Mazin asked?

“I don’t mean to be flippant, but I think it’s been over for a long time,’’ Stratton said.

San Marino asks parents to donate $1,000 per student per year, and Manhattan Beach asks its parents to give $2,000, panelists said, noting those unified districts have raised $5 million and $4.1 million respectively.

“Now it’s our turn,’’ Mazin said.

Ranked the second highest academically achieving school district in the state, LCUSD thus far has avoided furlough days, layoffs to tenure-track teachers and losing valuable programs, Tracy said.

Regarding those glory days of 2007-08, Peterson explained that LCUSD today receives 10 percent less in unrestricted funds from the state – that's $577 dollars less per kid. Three years ago the district received $5,795 per each of the 4,000 students. Multiply that out and it’s a difference of some $2.3 million.

This time next month, Tracy said, we’ll know whether there’s going to be a special election. If Gov. Jerry Brown’s measure to bring in $12 billion in tax extensions makes it onto the ballot (a 2/3 approval from the legislature is required to even hold a special election) and voters subsequently pass it, that brightens the financial picture. But the slew of variables are not encouraging.

“We’re preparing for the worst case scenario,’’ he said.

That includes eliminating 15 positions, the elementary Spanish program and some counseling services. The district is further looking at 30 kids in kindergarten-third grade classes, inflated class sizes in 9th grade English and math classes and less security and technology at the high school.

Peterson nixed the notion that LCUSD would close any of the elementaries, despite declining enrollment, while Tracy pointed out that another parcel tax is probably not the answer, as it took five times to pass the last time around. Grants aren't pouring in -  La Cañada proper’s average home price is $1.3 million, disqualifying LCUSD from that funding source, and turning charter was deemed a bad fit for the district.

Joking that it wasn’t La Cañada’s happening nightlife that attracted he and his wife, Mazin said LCF is a company town and the company is the school district. Great schools keep property values high, so residents without children in K-12 still have a stake in LCUSD's fiscal health. 

Mazin admitted in the past, he had been giving only $365 to the foundation each year. This year his family upped that substantially, and he encouraged others to do the same.

“You’ll get to feel holier than thou for the rest of the year,’’ he said. 

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story referred to The La Cañada Flintridge Educational Foundation as the "fund-raising arm of the district.'' It should have been described as a non-profit, public agency that raises money for the district.