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Parents, students and nonprofits urge Atascadero Unified to keep outdoor education and school gardens
Summary
Speakers representing CAPS, Learning Among the Oaks and 1 Cool Earth, plus students and teachers, asked the board to preserve garden- and nature-based programs and Unified PE amid budget pressures and possible shifts in district support.
Several dozen parents, students and nonprofit representatives urged the Atascadero Unified School District board to sustain outdoor education, school gardens and Unified P.E. during public comment.
"I was dismayed to receive an email from district staff telling me that next school year, the district would no longer be supporting our program," said Zara Wiley, program manager for Learning Among the Oaks, which she said served about 1,100 elementary students last year. Wiley described the program as bilingual and NGSS-aligned and said most costs are covered through community fundraising and grants.
Carrie White, president of CAPS (the district volunteer fundraising group), and Nicole Hyder, CAPS grant chair, described the group’s fundraising and grant distributions; Hyder presented a check showing $24,640 in grants awarded this year and outlined how CAPS-directed funds reached classrooms across the district.
Catherine Ron Tuller Krieg, executive director of 1 Cool Earth, told trustees the nonprofit has partnered with the district since 2014, delivering weekly garden-based instruction at multiple sites and bringing roughly $90,000 a year in leveraged funds to district classrooms. "More than half of the cost of our program is supplemented by 1 Cool Earth fundraising," she said, warning that cutting district support would shift the burden to principals and PTAs and risk uneven access across schools.
Students and teachers described the programs’ classroom and social-emotional benefits. A student who identified herself as Brooklyn asked the board, "Please don't shut down the garden program," saying the garden helps her regulate and stay at school. Kirk Nordby, a special-education paraeducator, told trustees the garden serves as a therapeutic refuge for students who rely on sensory and outdoor breaks.
Trustees acknowledged the testimony and said they valued the programs. Board members and staff repeatedly noted that district funding decisions are constrained by state budget cuts and flat revenue, and they suggested program preservation could be considered as part of the district’s LCAP decisions and any additional LREBG funding if it becomes available.
The comments concluded with trustees thanking speakers; the board did not take immediate action on program funding at this meeting. Staff and board members said they would take the public testimony under careful consideration as the district finalizes the LCAP and budgets in the coming weeks.
