EDUCATIONALLY SPEAKING

Gay Geiser-Sandoval

Tonight, and for the next 10 Monday nights, you can expand your junior

high, high school or community college student’s horizons.

Are they interested in math and science, but aren’t too sure what they

want to be when they grow up? Expose them to a bunch of different

options. The head of the UCI School of Biological Sciences, Dr. Shin Lin,

will be bringing together internationally famous members of the

biomedical community for a “talk show,” where students can participate.

Assistant Dean of Biological Sciences David Gardiner, who is also a Costa

Mesa High School parent, will be the co-host.

If your child is one who wants to sit up front and ask questions, you can

register him or her for a unit of continuing education college credit by

calling (949) 824-6252, and paying $40 for the first or second session,

or $60 for both sessions. The talks will be held at UCI’s Bren Center

from 7 to 8:20 p.m. Mondays through Nov. 29. If you don’t mind sitting

farther away, the series is free, except for a parking charge.

I hope I don’t forget to go to the talk on “The Science of the Brain:

Learning and Memory.” Some of the other topics include “Biomedical

Engineering: Engineering Human Tissues,” “Human Evolution and the Origin

of Races” and “Application of Computer Science and Technology to the

Study of Cancer.”

Nobody told me about these careers when I was in high school, but I guess

most of them didn’t exist back then. Everyone is invited, whether you are

a student or not.

****

The state legislature is having more and more of an effect on our local

budget. Instead of giving each school district a pile of state money to

use as the school board sees fit, lawmakers are providing funds that may

only be used in a particular fashion. For instance, they appropriated $40

per student in kindergarten through 12th grade that can only be used to

buy new textbooks. Kindergarten through eighth grades will get $8.70 per

student for instructional materials. All grade levels qualify for $29 per

student for library funding. Kindergarten through fourth grades get $10

per student to buy reading books to be housed in the classroom.

While the state provides an incentive bonus for class-size reduction, it

does not cover the whole cost. So, the extra money needed to fund the

program has to come from somewhere. First through third grades are

funded from the district’s general fund to the tune of $1.3 million.

However, there isn’t enough left in the general fund for kindergarten and

ninth grades. The extra $100,000 needed for those two grades is being

funded by reducing the amount that individual schools receive for their

School Improvement Plan, or SIP, money.

SIP funds come from the state through previously passed legislation. The

use of the funds is to be decided by a joint team of teachers, parents,

school staff, and (in the upper grades) students. They are to use those

funds to improve that particular school. The schools will see a 21%

reduction in this year’s SIP funds.

All of the elementary schools receive the same amount per student, no

matter where the site. However, differing amounts go to the secondary

schools, with some not receiving any funds. So, the effect on the schools

and programs funded by SIP funds will vary. With the variation of school

grades at each site, there are six schools in the district that do not

house a kindergarten or ninth-grade class that have had their SIP funds

reduced by 21%. One such school will lose more than $12,000 in SIP funds

from the 1999-2000 budget.

If costs increase next year because of increased teacher salaries, will

SIP funds previously available to the schools be slashed again?

Class-size reduction has resulted in increased employees, which has led

to increased employee benefits. Benefits are projected to cost 19% of

next year’s budget, which is more than the classified staff’s salaries.

The board approved a review of health-care costs by an independent

consultant to see if there is a way to stop the escalation. Those results

should be available in a few months.

More schools and more kids have led to more transportation costs. This

year, the general fund is ponying up $1.1 million to keep the buses

running. But the biggest encroachment to the general fund is from special

education. The costs have outpaced the state funding received for the

programs. It is costing the general fund almost $3.2 million. That means

that 19% of special education expenditures encroach on the general fund.

The number of kids in the program is projected to increase from 598 to

623 this year. This increase was attributed to parents asking for initial

screenings of their child at an earlier age. The other factor is the

growing number of licensed care facilities in the district, which is

greater than in other areas of the county.

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Most schools have had their Back-to-School Nights by now. I hope you

went and have a clear understanding about how you can work with the

teacher to help your child excel at school. Remember, you are part of the

learning triangle between teachers, students and parents.

****

Costa Mesa High School has five choirs with more than 200 singers, so

when it is time for the Winter Concert, they need some room.

Unfortunately, they don’t have a place right now.

They would prefer a place with good acoustics. If you know where they

could hold their concert for parents and communitymembers at 7 p.m. Dec.

6, please let Choral Director Jon Lindfors know by calling (714)

424-7575, Ext. 4334.

GAY GEISER-SANDOVAL is a Costa Mesa resident. Her column runs Mondays.