Former Mayors Had It Coming; School Budget Problems and the Scoop on the Real Poop

February 25, 2000

Dear Editor,

I am often unable to attend School Board meetings due to a rehearsal committment with Palisades Symphony on Thursday evenings; but thanks to your timely reporting, I was able to find out what I'd missed bright and early this morning.

Keep up the good work!

Donna Stanton
SM/M Coalition for Music Education

Donna Stanton
Santa Monica

February 25, 2000

Congratulations. Terrific article (Live From City Hall... The Big Show.").

Where in the rules does it say former mayors have the right to stand up in public and try to control the Council in session?!

Abdo and Zane had it coming. You pulled no punches.
Congratulations!"

Ellen Brennan
Santa Monica

February 24, 2000

Dear Editor, School Board and City Council,

As a member of the Fine Arts District Advisory Committee, I attended the January 25 Budget Workshop. During that session a question was posed regarding our ability to safeguard a similar deficit in subsequent scholastic years.

We were assured that, based on projections, this would not be a recurring crisis. The reality that it was, in part, faulty projections that got us into this mess in the first place was never factored into the response.

So, here we are -- thanks to another erroneous projection--waiting for the Superintendent's office to issue its most recent edition of recommended budget reductions--the new and improved cut list from hell.

You, the elected members of the School Board and City Council, are expected to make serious decisions which will have a drastic impact on the quality of our children's education; yet, how can you even begin to determine the most judicious allocation of funding if you're not certain how much money you actually have to spend?

A few months ago, the deficit was $4.2 million; or $2 million; maybe it was $5 million -- everyone seemed to have a different number. Last week it was $1.5 million; today it's $2.5 million.

Can any of you guarantee that this amount won't change in another month; or even by tomorrow?

The City Council has been approached regarding a one-time grant in order to relieve the severity of this situation; but no one is certain what the situation is. If the District Staff is unable to provide concrete numbers, then the govenmental super structures (ie: the Cities) need to intervene.

An independent assessment, one that is accountable to the community rather than the Superintendent's office, would in no way usurp the authority of the Board of Education, but rather provide its members with essential information.

There are numerous individuals -- from the Financial Task Force to parent/student advocates -- working toward a resolution. Please take the steps necessary to determine exactly what it is we're trying to resolve.

DK Stanton
SM/M Coalition for Music Education

To Whom it May Concern:

As a parent of two elementary school children in this district, a member of the District's Sports and Physical Education Advisory Committee and a professor of Sports Medicine and Physical Education at Pepperdine University, I want to state my opposition to the proposed SMMUSD budget cuts which would affect the learning and health of every elementary school age child in this district, all 5300 of them.

The elimination of physical activity specialists and instructional aide position in physical education along with the elimination of the position of Sports and Physical Education Coordinator is very short-sighted. In addition to eliminating positions in a program that is mandated by the state, (every elementary child must have 100 minutes of physical education each week), this decision would increase the burden on classroom teachers who already are working at their maximal capacity to meet the other curriculum needs of their diverse student population.

Why the district should not eliminate these positions? Because elimination of these positions will have long-lasting effects on the learning and health of children in this district i.e. their health will be negatively impacted for the rest of their life.

1. The documented benefits of physical activity for children include improved academic performance (attentional focus is improved as is learning and memory), optimizing weight and body composition, improved physical fitness, increased movement knowledge and motor skill expertise, enhanced self-esteem, improved stress management and social development.

2. As recently highlighted, in the Health Section of the LA Times, Monday, January 31, 2000, the United States Public Health Service has stated "there is an epidemic of obesity among children like we have never seen in the US." Jane Allen stated in the LA Times article entitled "Changing the Shape of the Future" that "an estimated 10-15% of American kids are seriously overweight, a near doubling over the last two decades, federal figures show. As many as 25% are at risk for obesity and many already show biochemical changes such as elevated cholesterol and blood pressure that are precursors to obesity-linked illnesses." Participation in daily physical activity is a very important factor in losing weight and perhaps the most important factor in maintaining a healthy body weight.

3. Obesity in and of itself is not the concern but if an individual is obese he/she is at increased risk for many other diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes (the leading causes of death in the US population).

4. Children who do not master basic competency in fundamental motor skills, such as running, hopping, jumping, throwing, catching and striking will not be successful in more complicated motor skills like dance, soccer, or swimming etc. If children don’t feel competent in movement, then they will not participate in movement, and will establish a pattern of inactivity for their lifetime. Children who are competent in reading - read! Children who are competent in math - do math! Children who are competent in motor skills - will be more active as adults. A recent 20 year longitudinal study reported that individuals who experienced quality daily physical education at the elementary school level were more active as adults and choose to smoke less than individuals who did not have a quality elementary school physical education program (Trudeau et al., in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 1999).

5. Finally, these positions should not be eliminated because it will not save the district the $391,000 claimed as budget reduction but will in fact cost the district more money! Since the current policy is to allow classroom teachers to have their preparation time when their students are at physical education, it would cost $500,000/year to provide certificated substitutes for this teacher preparation time, and another $15-20,000/year to train classroom teachers to implement the districts physical education curriculum.

The present staffing of elementary school physical education with physical activity specialists, who are not certified physical education teachers, does not ensure a quality physical education program. A large scale federal funded study (SPARK) documented that children who are taught by certified physical education teachers at the elementary school level perform better in the classroom, are more physically fit, are more active as adults, and not as many become smokers. What we have now is better than what we had before, but it is still not the quality program to which this district is committed.

Before closing I want to recognize the outstanding job done by Mr. Chris Corliss as Sports and Physical Education Coordinator! His hiring, three years ago, breathed life back into a underfunded, understaffed program. He has greatly improved the elementary physical education program in the district with his experience, dedicated leadership, commitment to hiring and training qualified personal and his implementation of a quality curriculum. Hiring Mr. Corliss was a wise decision and he must be retained no matter what cuts you.

I therefore urge the SMMUSD Board to consider what is best for every elementary school child in this district, not just those who choose to participate in a specialized program, and what is best for every elementary school classroom teacher. The goal of this district should be to develop children who are "physically educated" as well as cognitively, emotional and socially educated. According to the National Academy of Sports and Physical Education (1992), a "Physically Educated Person" is one who has learned the skills necessary to perform a variety of physical activities, is physically fit, does participate regularly in physical activity, knows the benefits and risks of participation in physical activities, and values physical activity and its contributions to a healthful lifestyle

Sincerely,

Priscilla MacRae, Ph.D.
Professor of Sports Medicine and Physical Education
Pepperdine University

February 22, 2000

Dear Editor,

It would be so much more fun to be able to tell my tale on the phone but alas, all in the city manager's office are so overtasked that they've been unable to return my calls.

Warning this is not a pleasant topic! The whole poop and nothing but the poop so help me God! As I poked my nose out the door at about 10 a.m. several Thursdays ago I was met with an olfactory insult of unimaginable proportions. The passing, rather diminutive pooch, who I suspected of errancy upon the parkway strip could not possibly be responsible for the sum of the foul engulfing vapour that had descended on my corner.

There, across the street I spied the offal that was the true culprit, and recognized, as it lay on its side in the street, the 25 gallon drum that my neighbor had been using to collect his best friend's leavings for the past 2 or 3 years. Given the high concentrations of coliform bacteria present I figured that this was a hazardous waste emergency and called the police.

When they arrived I was relieved to see that they made the perp do some fast shoveling, and thought surely sanitation would follow up and whisk away the hazard. Two days later the drum and the stench remained, and I'd had enough.

I called police dispatch, and they referred me to the toxic guy at the fire dept., he said he wouldn't let his men touch it unless " the chief ordered it." I was given the Santa Monica pollution hot line (458-8945) where,after the robot forwarded my call to voicemail, I was told that "This extension does not subscribe to that service" after which I was politely hung up on. Good news! Two months after the new phone system was installed that extension now works!

I finally gained some traction on the problem when I called the police again and spoke to the desk Sgt.. Acosta......He called animal control, and when they saw the mess the police authorized overtime and sanitation finally came and did their job. Probably I had ten calls and three hours into this task, and that's not acceptable! You and I both wish this story was over with.....but it's not. Deprived of his drum my neighbor began shoveling "it" directly into the gutter.

I then called animal control, noting the time of day of the deposits (Yes, gentle reader I expect you must be asking, as do I, who is this strange person with so much time on his hands that he can afford to obsess on such a pedestrian topic at length.) fully expecting a timely response to this ongoing offence.

Several weeks later I received a call from a Ms. Scott at the Los Angeles County Health Dept. asking me for all the juicy details, then about ten days later a person from said agency arrived and instructed my neighbor, once again, to do some fast shoveling. Victory at last? Hardly! After a brief respite the encrapulation of 19th and Michigan and doubtless many other corners continues unabated.

I regret to say that this is no anomaly, but is rather emblematic of the fact that Santa Monicans are getting nowhere near their value for tax dollars spent. Despite my earlier missive the last examples of graffiti on the cannon in Palisades Park remained for about six weeks.

The restoration of said park consists of muddy paths, inoperable restrooms and a decorative phallic installation (Illuminated?) at California and Ocean. In sum, while our city is "in" and our coffers stuffed with tourist dollars, the fact that we are being sold a bill of goods by the current regime goes unnoted. When the tide changes Santa Monicans will be stuck with the real bill for the arrogant intransigence of City Hall.

If the bond holders of our fair city could see what I see every day we would, as I write, already be in deep trouble. Somebody needs their butt kicked and if no one else will do it I will!

Cheers!
Steve Keats

Santa Monica

City response:

Steve- I will ask staff to look into your complaints about your neighbors disposal of his dog's waste. However, I want to clarify that Kate Vernez did return your calls and, as I understand it, you two discussed an issue with Risk Management. In any case, staff will be back in touch with you about your concerns regarding the concerns raised in your e-mail.

Katie Lichtig
City of Santa Monica

February 22, 2000

Dear Editor,

My name is Jonathan Summers and I am a sixth grade Trumpet player from John Adams Middle School.I am concered at some of the items you are considering cutting. First of the things I would like you to consider is item #51. That is the music aides. They are a great thing you should
reconsider. Wothout them we would a very hard time in being in the music room.

They are always there to help out with anything that goes wrong. My greatest concern with you cutting the aides are disaters. If you cut aides, there would be less adults to help when and if there is an earthquake or a fire.

The aides could also direct the students if the teacher gets stuck inside the room and is injured to where they are
unable to walk or unconcicence. Although on a happier note they help with the insturments that need repairs so that the teacher does not cut in to rehersal time.

They also can be the substitute teacher if the actual teacher is sick or has to go to a meeting and is unable to go to
rehersal instead of the other teachers who do not have much experiance in the music area. They also become good friends also. Those are some of the reasons to keep item #51.

I also like to bring another item that should not be cut. I would like you to really reconsider is item #59. That is the music coordinator Mrs. Patrica Henderson. She is the one that coordinates almost every thing that happens for the music area in this district. She does alot for the
district that I have heard of like "Stairways to the Stars." She
has coordinated this and she also gets the transportation for when we go to Ontario Mills.

She is a very nice person and she does alot and I had the pleasure of her being my sustitute teacher when I was in the forth grade Music so please reconsider cutting her position because without her our coordination is lost. So please reconsider item #59.

My last item I would like you to reconsider is the Elementery music program which is item #64. It is the base of our music program. That is where my friends and I first got an interest in music. All would be lost if the Elementery music is cut.

Our more anvanced would have fewer and fewer people in them since children would start insterments in sixth grade the high schools would be less experienced and also the middle
schools would suffer also in less experience in players. The only people that would be experienced in music are the people that have parents that are interested in music and play an insturment fluently. That number of students would be quite small and the bands for students just learning,
their bands would be quite crowded and the advanced bands would much smaller in number.

So please do not cut Elementery music, item #64. These items are quite important to the music prograqm in this district and should be reconsidered for having this cut. I would be very greatful if these items arn't cut.

Also, please try to remember this when making your desicion, this is what my Trumpet teacher Paul Salvo said to me my first lesson with him:"A student that plays an insturment and is in a music program, does better in other subjects in school." I am very greatful if you consider this letter.