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Parents urge South Pasadena Unified to stop 'supplanting' Prop 28 funds and expand arts offerings
Summary
A parent and PTA member told the board Aug. 12 that South Pasadena Unified has been using Proposition 28 funds to pay for positions already in place, which she characterized as supplanting. She asked the board and new superintendent to revise the spending plan so the funds expand, not replace, arts instruction.
At the Aug. 12 Board of Education meeting, a parent and PTA member said South Pasadena Unified must revise how it spends Proposition 28 funds to comply with state law and expand arts access.
Monk Turner, a parent and PTA member at Monterey Hills School, told the board South Pasadena receives “over half a million dollars annually” from Proposition 28 and that his child’s elementary school receives “more than $70,000.” Turner said Prop 28 — the Arts and Music in Schools Act — requires that districts use the money to supplement, not supplant, existing arts funding.
“Prop 28 must supplement, not supplant, existing arts education funding,” Turner said. He told the board he believes the district used Prop 28 funds in prior years to pay for positions that were already funded, and he cited a recent article in Soarscribe and ongoing litigation involving Los Angeles Unified as warnings about such practices.
Turner urged the board and Superintendent Dr. Baxter to revise the Prop 28 spending plan so every dollar increases student access to arts instruction; he suggested using funds to add dance instruction, which he said is required under the California Education Code but not provided at the district’s elementary sites.
Turner offered to help the district revise the plan and asked the board to act before a formal complaint becomes necessary. The board did not take action on the comment but acknowledged the concern during the public comment period.
