Funding boost helps arts and music
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com

California schools this year will receive extra funding for art, music and physical education programs, thanks to a healthier state economy.

Although 27 new school programs were included in the 200607 state budget, the majority are targeted for school districts that are low performing or economically disadvantaged.

Three new programs will benefit all California schools, said Donald Zimring, deputy superintendent of the Las Virgenes Unified School District.

Two of the three will provide ongoing funds, including a $15per-student block grant for art and music, which in Las Virgenes amounts to $4,000 per school site, Zimring said.

"This clearly was a year that the governor proposed a plethora of new programs," Zimring said.

School board members are charged with establishing guidelines and standards for spending the money, but board President Terilyn Finders said no decision has been made about how the money will be used.

An incentive grant of $35,000 is earmarked for physical education teachers for kindergarten through eight-grade students. Zimring said the P.E. grant is "competitive" and must be won through an application. He said the money could be used to hire P.E. teachers to fulfill the requirement of 200 minutes of physical education per 10 days of instruction.

"These are epic times, epic money," said Jean Flemion, a P.E. teacher at A.C. Stelle Middle School in Calabasas. "This training is vital to the implementation of the standards. It is going to change physical education as we have formally known it."

Art, music and P.E. supplies and equipment can be purchased through onetime funding of $82 per student, which is estimated to total $970,000 districtwide, Zimring said. The money could also be used for teacher education, he said.

Zimring said district and individual schools will also receive a windfall of money with no strings attached. These discretionary funds will include $19 per student for the district office, which Zimring said could be spent on "virtually anything." Each school site will receive an extra $56 per student.

School board member Dave Moorman said he wants decisions on how the money is spent to be driven from the "bottom up," rather than dictated by the board.

Board members called for coordination of programs by grade levels and schools.

Finders said she hoped private and public partnerships could be forged in all areas to sustain new programs for the future. For instance, a partnership between the Wellness Center and the school district could combine nutrition and physical education programs.

Board member Gordon Whitehead said programs should benefit the maximum number of students and said he hoped that art education would go beyond a "superficial" level.

The state money should reach districts some time this month, Zimring said.