MOORPARK : District May Change Lottery Fund Policy

The Moorpark Unified School District will consider changing the way it awards its share of state lottery funds to various groups and programs in an attempt to more fairly allocate the resources.

“What we need to do is get some process in place so that all the groups in the district have equal access to that lottery money,” board member Clint Harper said Friday.

The push for a new policy, first suggested by board member Greg Barker, is already finding favor with district officials and could be enacted next month.

“Something needs to be done,” said board member Tom Baldwin. “The way we’re doing it right now is in a first-come, first-served basis, so some deserving person might come forward and wind up being too late.”

“It’s chaotic,” Harper said. “It’s whoever gets to the school board first and gets the ear of one of the board members, which is not easily defended as an equitable way of distributing funds.”

Board members this week approved distribution of lottery funds to support construction of an asphalt practice track at Moorpark High School and to resurface practice mats used by the high school wrestling team. Lottery monies have also supported the acquisition of computers and other technological teaching aids.

Rather than waiting for individual groups to approach them in search of funding, Harper said the board should formally accept applications for financial support each quarter so it can judge the uses against each other and in light of the available funds.

The process, Harper said, would not be unlike the one used by cities when awarding federal Community Development Block Grants to groups or projects annually.

The available funds vary from year to year, but usually number in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, Harper said.