Kiosk In This Issue Through Mar. 1-31 “Of Mice and Men” Magic Circle Theatre, CV 7:30 PM, 2 PM Sun. $25, 659-7500 • Through Mar. 15 Pint-for-a-Pint Blood Drive Community Hospital Free, 625-4814 • Sun.-Sun., Mar. 10-17 Piano man - Page 15 Bowl-A-Thon - Page 14 To eat or not to eat - Page 19 International Film Festival Congregation Beth Israel 5716 Carmel Valley Rd. $10-$12/ $40-$50 624-2015 Pacific Grove’s • Tues., Mar. 12-Apr. 16 Or Thurs., Mar. 14-Apr. 18 Watercolor Class Peridot Fine Art, CV $125, 920-8130 • Wed., Mar 13-April 30 Acrylic/ Collage Class Peridot Fine Art, CV $160, 920-8130 • Times Fri. Mar. 15 March 15-21, 2013 Your Community NEWSpaper Vol. V, Issue 26 World Affairs Council Lunch Rancho Canada Golf Club 11:30 AM-2 PM $25/ $35, 643-1855 Some • Fri. & Sat. Mar 15-16 “The Phantom Tollbooth” things never Sherwood Hall, Salinas 7 PM $8/ $10/ $12 change...or 775-0976 • Sat. Mar. 16 do they? Anniversary Celebration Scouts await the announce- Benefitting Hamilton House ment of awards at the Sat., and Elm House Shelter March 9 Pinewood Derby at Sweet Elena’s Bakery venerable Chautauqua Hall. Noon-5 PM, $25 In addition to the traditional 393-2063 Scout competition, there • was an invitational open Sat. Mar 16 to non-Scouts and...girls. Persian New Year Celebration PG Library More photos and the results 5:30-8:30 PM, Free on page 14. Photo by Peter 648-5762 Mounteer • Sat., Mar. 16 County History Day Stevenson School, Carmel 9 AM-5 PM, Free 277-0168 • Sun. Mar. 17 “Giving for Melody” Art Reception Uncertain plans for adult ed The Works 3:30-5 PM, Free 236-2064 • around state school budget Sun., Mar. 17 Parents’ Place forms non-profit, sets up ‘Parachute Plan’ Story Road Celtic Band St. Mary’s Church 3 PM, $20/$5 Preliminary budget takes Adult Ed away Parents’ Place sees funding problems 373-4441 from K-12, gives it to community colleges but isn’t quite ready to go it alone • Mon. Mar. 18 By Marge Ann Jameson By Marge Ann Jameson World Affairs Discussion “China in Africa” At the March 7 meeting of the Pacific Grove Unified School A group of parents and supporters at Parents’ Place, a funda- MPC, Soc. Sci. Bldg., Rm. 102 District Board of Trustees, the Board reluctantly voted to send out mental part of the Pacific Grove community for more than 25 years, 4-5:30 PM, Free “pink slips” to the certificated employees of the district’s nine adult are not waiting to learn whether the governor’s May revisions will www.wacmb.org . education programs, pending direction from the State and its May wipe out funding for the parent education program, which is cur- budget revisions. State law requires that employees be notified by rently under the jurisdiction of the Adult Education program of the More on Page 2 March 15 each year if there is a chance they will not be rehired for The Kiosk on our website Pacific Grove Unified School District. the fall semester, yet budgets are not set until mid-June. Preliminary At Parents’ Place, they’ve watched funding decline over the is updated daily. discussion of the budget for 2013-14 begins at the district’s March www.cedarstreettimes.com last several years and have had to reduce classes and support to 21 meeting. families, some of whom depend on “scholarships” to remain in the This is the second time in four years that such an action has prenatal-to-3-years program. been taken. The first time, the budget was balanced with additional Ten years ago, the group, called Friends of Parents’ Place, funds coming from students at the adult school. This year, it may formed a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and has worked since Inside not work out as well. then to support the program and provide for scholarships, with a California Gov. Brown has proposed a preliminary budget goal of serving 300 families. That figure is the service level before Animal Tales which would take jurisdiction over adult education programs – and the most recent budget cuts. & Random Thoughts ................. 16 possibly funding – away from K-12 districts and place responsibil- And now they’re facing even more stringent cuts, and the Cop Log ...................................... 3 ity for administration on the shoulders of community colleges. He specter of no funding at all. Finance .................................... 10 promises an additional $300 million in new funding for community They’ve established what they call a “Parachute Plan,” which Food ........................................... 7 colleges to fund support of adult education within the community Green Page ............................... 23 offers “options and pathways that will allow families in Pacific colleges, and proposes $15.7 million be shifted from K-12 districts Grove and surrounding communities the continued access to high Health & Wellness .................... 20 to the community colleges for the Apprenticeship Program. Legal Notices .............................. 9 quality parent education and support.” The plan was recently pre- Opinion ...................................... 9 Gov. Brown sees redundancies and inefficiencies between the sented to the school board by spokeswoman Colleen Beye, Parents’ Otter Views ................................. 4 two systems, especially in basic skills courses and remedial instruc- Place mother of a 10-month-old girl. Peeps ........................................ 15 tion. He has stated that he wishes to tighten up funding so that K-12 The Parachute Plan was set up in 2011 and while Beye says Sports & Leisure .................. 13, 14 districts can no longer use state funding for any educational purpose they’re not ready to pull the rip cord just yet, they could be as soon Up & Coming ......................... 5, 6 YWC .......................................... 8 See ADULT ED Page 2 See PARACHUTE Page 2 Page 2 • CEDAR STREET Times • March 15, 2013 pADULT ED pPARACHUTE From Page 1 Kiosk as a year from now with a little help from the district in the form of bridge funding From Page 1 and a facility. The Friends have what they term “an ambitious transition plan” away from de- • they deem necessary, which is not always pendence on the existing Adult School structure, says Beye, who presented the plan to Tues. Mar. 19 adult education. “Many districts,” says the school board at a recent meeting. The plan maps out an annual budget of $352,720 Hands of Hope Luncheon the summary budget document from the and “assumes” an in-kind donation of the facility itself from the school district. Also Monterey Hyatt state,” are eliminating their programs and preferred is a Memorandum of Understanding which would allow the non-profit to retain 11 AM, $30/ $50 redirecting this funding to support their equipment and supplies, books and software. “The community associates this space 429-7473 core instructional programs.” • [the current address on Lighthouse] with Parents’ Place,” with the building, garden, The state seeks to increase funding bathrooms and playground, the group notes in its Parachute Plan. Thu. Mar. 21 to K-12 while at the same time “focusing Military Officers Assoc. Lunch The budget comprises tuition and fees of $144,000 along with $150,000 in grants more responsibility and accountability on – a bridge of sorts which is anticipated to decline to $50,000 in four years as “personal Rancho Canada Golf Course those who are closest to our students.” 11 AM, $20 contributions,” outright public contributions, increases. The budget does not assume 649-6227 In the case of Pacific Grove Unified increased parent fees. “There are families we serve who could not afford even the • School district, it means $1.5 million in smallest increase,” spokeswoman Colleen Beye told the school board. Thu., Mar. 21 unrestricted funds could go away. With two experienced grant writers contracted, the Friends have already gained the “MoM and Apple Pie” Party Walter Tribley, the new president of support of the Packard Foundation to support implementation of the Parachute Plan. Museum of Monterey Monterey Peninsula College, is taking a They are in the process of establishing relationships with foundations and major donors 5-7:30 PM, Free wait-and-see attitude, pending those May in the Pacific Grove and Monterey communities. 595-4570 revisions. He says that the community col- The Parents’ Place Parachute Plan can be read in its entirety on the Parents’ Place • lege, which serves some 16,000 students, website at Sat., Mar. 23 could even act as a conduit and allow the Norwegian Music Discussion local portion of the new funds to “flow Sons of Norway Meeting through” to the existing K-12 system to The Oscars of the Heritage Society: Monterey Library be spent on adult education, rather than 2 PM, Free 373-8316 attempt to re-invent programs which have worked well, in many cases. • “Monterey Peninsula College has not Heritage Homes seeks Sat., Mar. 23 determined what we’re going to do in this Big Sur’s Mud Run area,” he said last week in an interview. Team Event nominations for annual award He sees a possibility for partnering with Does your home or your neighbor’s qualify for one of the prestigious Heritage 10 AM, $275 per Team Home Awards? 625-6226 other agencies to fill the need, particularly • for English Learner programs. The recent economic decline has resulted in a dip in the number of homes apply- Mon., Mar. 25 Presidents and superintendents of ing for — and being granted — permits for construction in Pacific Grove. The result Monterey Preservationists Meeting community colleges statewide are meeting is that there is only a small pool of nominations for this year’s annual Heritage Home Natural History Museum this week to “brainstorm” possibilities and Awards.