Sausalito Parents Upset Over District's Preschool Licensing Error - Aug 20, 1998 - San Francisco Chronicle - by Tyra Lucile Mead

Sausalito Parents Upset Over District's Preschool Licensing Error
Tyra Lucile Mead, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, August 20, 1998

(08-20) 04:00 PDT SAUSALITO -- Just days before the start of a promising new program in the struggling Sausalito School District, some parents have learned they will need to make other plans for their preschoolers because officials never obtained the necessary licensing.

The news was delivered earlier this week and left families scrambling to find preschools that still have openings and can take children ages 3 and 4.

``We feel betrayed,'' said Sara Tarbox-Pillado, whose 4-year-old daughter, Josephina, had been accepted into the program at Bayside/Martin Luther King School. ``We walked in (to the meeting) naively thinking that we were going to be told when school was going to start, meet the teacher and see her classroom, and the rug was pulled out from under us.''

The pilot project, part of a districtwide ``voluntary integration program,'' was going to bring 20 preschoolers, ages 3 to 5, together in the same classroom using the Montessori teaching methods in which students learn at their own pace. The district was one of just three statewide to get special funding for the program, totaling $385,000 a year for three years.

But the state has one set of rules for elementary schools regarding staffing, training and physical facilities, and a different set for programs for children younger than 5. Because of that difference, preschoolers under 5 -- about half of the students enrolled -- will be precluded from attending the program.

District officials said yesterday that the previous administration had failed to get the needed license so the program could include the younger children.

``We're finding there's a big minefield out there, and I expect we're going to step on some more hidden surprises,'' said school district Trustee Bill Hudson, who was appointed to the board in July. Three of his board colleagues won their seats in May as the result of a successful recall campaign.

The Sausalito district has been buffeted in the past several years. Despite spending about $12,000 per student annually -- three times the county average -- it has the lowest test scores in Marin.

Wealthier parents have transferred their children to schools elsewhere, so most of the district's students come from Marin City, an unincorporated area with many low-income families. Last year, an audit and a grand jury report slammed the district's leadership, curriculum, public relations and minority programs.

Since the recall election, both the district superintendent and the principal at Martin Luther King have taken jobs elsewhere.

But in the wake of Monday's meeting, Tarbox-Pillado and other parents were livid that the current district officials found out about the problem in July but neglected to notify parents.

``I feel there were too many secrets kept and they should have kept parents up on what was going on,'' said Eva-Marie DeFina, whose 4-year-old daughter, Emma, had been accepted to the school.

Trustees and interim Superintendent Susan Spain defended their actions.

``When you have a meeting you have to ... be able to share real information with people,'' Spain said, adding that with the recent turnover and vacations, some of the information was hard to track down.


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