LAUSD's fee plan attacked by groups

LA Daily News ^ | 4/29/05 | Jennifer Radcliffe

[NormsRevenge]

Dozens of nonprofit organization leaders protested Thursday against a Los Angeles Unified plan to charge youth groups to use district athletic fields and facilities.

Critics say the plan -- which would take effect in July and cost groups $78 for a permit and up to $48 an hour -- could force soccer associations, Girl Scouts and others to cancel activities.

"The schools have been built by the community and they should be used by the community," said Mary Ann Lapointe, a teacher trainer with the Good News Club, a children's evangelical group that holds after-school classes in 22 schools in the San Fernando Valley.

The district already has slightly revised its original plan, agreeing to waive any fees for groups -- such as the Good News Club -- that use district facilities before 6 p.m. weekdays.

That move reduces expected annual revenue from the plan to about $5 million, from about $6.3 million. But board members said Thursday that they hope they can eliminate all of the proposed fees, which were included among $140 million in recent budget cuts.

"They have not yet been fully vetted by the board," said Jon Lauritzen, who represents the West Valley. "When children are involved, we need to make sure they are taken care of."

Board member David Tokofsky said he hopes Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will come up with more funding for schools when the state budget is revised in mid-May.

If the governor keeps his promise to give back the more than $2 billion he borrowed from schools, the Los Angeles Unified School District could eliminate many of its budget cuts. "It's not over until the Terminator sings," Tokofsky said.

Associate Superintendent John Leitchy apologized for suggesting the fees. "I come here with a heavy heart around those recommendations," he said. "We just about hit the skids on figuring it out."

The LAUSD currently grants 2,850 permits a year to youth groups -- allowing about 55,000 free uses of district facilities a year.

"Our district can no longer afford to subsidize outside groups," Leitchy said. "This is not 'pay-to-play."'

Most other school districts in California, including those in Long Beach and San Diego, charge for facility use.

The school board is expected to consider the fee plan in late May.

[NormsRevenge]

"Our district can no longer afford to subsidize outside groups," Leitchy said. "This is not 'pay-to-play."'

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Translation.. We need new mahogany office furniture at the headquarters.

[Torie]

Well it is a subsidy.

[Torie]

And it is designed to drum up more funding for schools, the bottomless pit. Hit them where it hurts.

[NormsRevenge]

The inverse can also be said that it provides a legal way to get back at some of those groups that are less than supportive of the LAUSD hierarchy and operations. just a thought

[Amerigomag]

One only has to remember that earlier, publicly funded subsidies in the LA area created the hatchery from which the Crips and the Bloods emerged.

These two gangs, the byproduct of tax paid subsidies to do gooders have cost the state of California billions of tax dollars and has resulted in the death of thousands of it's citizens.

These two publicly assisted monsters were the role models for the two Mexican gangs that terrorize the state today and contribute to almost half of the state's prision population.