How would the money be spent?

We have all heard that our schools are facing unprecedented cuts in the funding they receive from the state. In their April 28 guest column, school board members Joel Peterson and Scott Tracy gave us a snapshot of what to expect if we can’t raise enough funds to offset the $2.4 million in cuts.

They also mention that the Task Force is currently conducting an aggressive campaign to educate school families as to the grim reality of our budget cutbacks. To get our schools back to the ideal standards that were established three years ago, we would need to raise $6 million.

Six million dollars is a lot of money, but I believe that we as a community can raise this amount. I believe the more the community is educated, the more it will donate. People in the community need to know exactly what programs will be funded, and at what dollar amounts. Tracy and Peterson only tell us what programs will be saved at the $2.4-million level.

What I request of the LCUSD is a breakdown of what programs will be funded after $2.4 million. This should be broken down at benchmark thresholds and should look something like this:

At $2.75 million these programs will be funded:

At $3 million these programs will be funded:

At 3.25 million these programs will be funded:

This should be continued to the $6-million level and based on the worst-case scenario from the state.

They also state that in late May or early June the Task Force will be reaching out to major donors “in an effort to get us where we need to be.”

I spent six years on the Educational Foundation and I am still in contact with some of its major donors. Based on my conversations with them, they agree that the district needs to inform the community about what programs will be funded at what dollar levels.

Last November I asked the district for information on what programs would be funded at what dollar amounts. I asked them to base this on a worst-case scenario and to show every program they would like to fund. I did not receive a response to my email. I also asked a school board member for this information and the response was they also cannot get this from the district. If this information is not available, then how can they tell us they need $6 million?

Our children deserve the best education available and as always, I have done my best to support the Educational Foundation in its support of our schools. I honestly believe for the community to raise $6 million, the district and school board need show the school families how they plan on spending our money. Through education and openness, we can achieve this goal.

Craig Miller

La Cañada