County Schools Accept $370,000 Grant for Teen Parenting Program

After rejecting the money once before, the county Board of Education on Monday agreed to accept a $370,000 state grant for a teen parenting and education program.

On a unanimous vote, school board members effectively reversed a decision they made in September, when conservative trustees Ron Matthews and Marty Bates opposed applying for the grant, citing moral and financial concerns about the teen parenting program.

Nevertheless, the state Education Department awarded the annual grant, which could bring millions of dollars in grant funds into Ventura County over the years.

“What we’re offering these girls is what they had before--an education,” county schools Supt. Charles Weis said. “There’s no incentives here for them to get pregnant. . . . Approving this program is the right thing to do and a proper investment of money. I predict it will continue to be a highly effective program.”

Fearing he would have to turn down the money, Weis brought the matter back to the full board for reconsideration. The first vote on the grant was taken after a trustee had vacated her post; the board deadlocked 2-2 at that time.

After hearing a more complete explanation of the program’s finances, Bates and Matthews endorsed the teen parenting program at Monday’s meeting. They were joined by trustees Janet Lindgren, Al Rosen and Yvonne Gallegos Bodel.

Bates said before the meeting that his earlier vote against the program was a reaction to staff members’ inability to answer some spending specifics.

“Now that they’ve brought the financial information I need, this looks like a good program I can support,” Bates said.

Matthews said previously he was worried a teen parenting program would encourage young women to become pregnant in high school. But he has since reconsidered his opinion.

“I did some investigating on my own and didn’t find any other agency that fit the bill” for assisting teen parents to continue their education, Matthews said before the meeting. “I was looking for something with a little more moral fiber.”

According to public health statistics, the areas of Ventura County that Matthews represents--including Oxnard and Port Hueneme--are among those most affected by teen pregnancy. In 1995 and 1996, youths between the ages of 11 and 18 in those two cities had nearly 1,200 children.

The teen parenting program is one of many topics Weis and the conservative trustees have clashed over. They have also locked horns over AIDS education and family-planning speakers.

The grant accepted Monday night will be used to expand a program designed to educate teen mothers and help them raise healthy babies. The funding will increase the number of teens served from 55 to 100.

It will also expand child care to five days a week at all three sites where the program operates around the county. Currently, only one site offers day care for students’ children five days a week.

The students in the program learn academics for their high school diploma, receive job training and instruction in proper care and feeding of their children, said Kathy Auth, the teen pregnancy teacher at Gateway Community School.

Before entering the program, some of the teen parents used to feed their babies candy and soft drinks for breakfast, Auth said, but now they know the proper nutrients for growing children.

“The students who are sitting home, doing nothing and not attending school have a higher likelihood of getting into legal trouble,” she said. “We’re keeping teens in school, helping them get an education and giving them parenting skills. There isn’t much bad I can say about this program.”

School board member Lindgren agreed.

“This program provides an opportunity for teen parents to finish their education and graduate from high school and perhaps seek further education and a means of supporting themselves,” she said. “It helps them become self-sufficient.”