School Board Delays Decision on Young Fathers Program

A plan to teach incarcerated youths how to be good fathers was put on hold by the Ventura County Board of Education on Monday night, after trustees voted 2 to 2 on whether to approve the program’s grant application.

Young Men as Fathers, a one-year program created by the California Youth Authority, would teach boys and young men who are locked up or on probation everything from changing diapers to understanding how fathers influence the family.

In the absence of Trustee Al Rosen, who missed Monday’s meeting because he was in the hospital, the board first split on whether to authorize the $60,000 fee required with the grant application, which could have killed the measure. But the four trustees then decided to reconsider the application at a future meeting when all five are present.

Conservatives Wendy Larner and Angela Miller opposed the program, saying they could not adopt the curriculum if they had not reviewed the program yet.

“We’ve tried things like this over and over and they’ve proved unsuccessful,” Larner said.

Trustees Marty Bates and John McGarry voted in favor of the grant.

“If only 10% of the men come out of this program and lead their children to avoid the same problems they incurred, it will be the best $60,000 we ever spent,” said Bates, the board president.

In the past, the board’s conservative majority has taken issue with government grants, saying they interfere with local school boards’ control. Miller, Bates and Larner voted down a federal grant last year that would have prepared 50,000 students for jobs after high school. During a March board meeting when Larner was not present, Miller voted against a state grant that would teach students to speak on AIDS prevention, but she was on the losing end.

If the district eventually secures the grant from the California Youth Authority, the program would serve up to 250 boys and young men, ages 11 to 18, at Ventura County institutions such as Gateway Community School in Camarillo and the Colston Youth Center in Ventura.