THOUSAND OAKS : Child-Care Program Gets a Reprieve

The Conejo Valley school board decided Thursday to maintain the district-run child-care program through the current school year to allow time to attract more children and increase revenues.

A committee of administrators, child-care workers and parents recommended that the school board continue existing programs at 17 of its 18 elementary schools until the end of the school year.

The Conejo Valley Unified School District board approved the committee’s recommendations to market the program in the community and eliminate special activities on days when students are out of school.

The committee was organized after parents protested a proposal in November to eliminate child-care programs at various schools, which would have affected up to 180 children.

The cuts were intended to offset a projected $166,000 deficit that the program is facing by the end of the 1991-92 school year, district officials said. The district is prohibited from using educational funds to subsidize the program.

The school board will review enrollment in the program in July and decide whether child care at any of the elementary schools will be eliminated in the fall.

Last April, the school board laid off six child-care workers and increased program fees about 25% in an attempt to reduce the program’s financial problems.