Fire brings school funds into question

Officials have said the Las Virgenes and Oak Park unified school districts could lose a significant amount of money if they are not reimbursed for the twoday shutdown due to the recent fires.

But the California Department of Education indicated funds will be made available once a waiver is requested by the school districts because the school closures were due to a natural occurrence.

It’s the first time that the local schools had to be closed a full two days in a row because of an emergency.

Deputy Superintendent Don Zimring said Las Virgenes would apply for the waiver.

California’s public schools are penalized financially if they do not offer a full 180 school days to their students, said Kim Clement, Consultant in the School Fiscal Services Division of the California Department of Education. The state currently pays about $30 a day for each student in attendance at Las Virgenes and Oak Park.

But the education code also says that when a school is closed because of “ . . . fire, flood, or epidemic . . . ” the district will receive its full apportionment.

The Oak Park school district averages about $110, 000 per day, or $5,194 per student each year, based on a 180-school day calendar. The Las Virgenes district, which stretches from Hidden Hills to Westlake Village, receives about $360,000 per day in funds.

“Approximately 97 percent of our students are in attendance on any given day,” Zimring said.

As for academics, the impact of the two-day absence should be minimal, said Martin Klaus, Oak Park assistant superintendent for business services.

The district could add two more days at the end of the school year, or reduce the length of spring break to accommodate the missed days, but according to Klaus, the change would be “more trouble than it’s worth.”

Once a waiver is submitted, it takes one to two months to get a response from the state.

“The last time we put in for this type of waiver it was eventually denied after several appeals which took over two years,” said Zimring, referring to a closure at Lupin Hill Elementary School in Calabasas because of a water supply problem.

—Sylvie Belmond