OJAI : Parents to Meet With Educators

Alarmed at proposed state budget cuts for education, Ojai parents will hold a 7 p.m. town meeting Tuesday with school officials.

Andrew Smidt, superintendent of the Ojai Unified School District, will be the guest speaker, Catherine Curtis of the new Save Our Schools group said.

Curtis, the mother of two preschool children, said she distributed 800 flyers encouraging residents to attend at the Nordhoff High School cafeteria.

Assemblyman Jack O’Connell, D-Carpinteria, is expected to send a representative, Curtis said. Other area elected officials have been invited. “We know there have to be cuts,” Curtis said. “But the most important thing is that we write letters to the governor asking him to keep Prop. 98 in force.”

Proposition 98, passed in 1988, guarantees schools at least 40% of state tax revenues. However, Proposition 111, passed last year, calls for schools to share the burden when revenues fall.

Ojai school board members tentatively approved $750,000 in budget cuts Tuesday. Final action is expected May 7, Assistant Supt. Leo Molitor said.

“This is the largest deficit we’ve ever faced,” Molitor said of the draft $13.8-million budget for the nine schools. The current budget is $13.6 million.

The cuts would eliminate two elementary school music aides, substitutes for janitorial and secretarial workers and the high school driver-training program. Also, less would be spent on athletic transportation and staff travel.