Sending out an SOS Sending out an SOS (February 18, 2004)

Forum focuses on link between budget cuts and students' emotional well-being

by Rachel Metz

If concerned locals get their way, the community may soon focus more on the link between school funding and the emotional health of district kids.

The launching pad for this argument is a town-hall style meeting Saturday, Feb. 21 at the school-district office.

"When you cut financially, if you cut staff, you cut programs (and) you cut counselors. It's one less lifeline ... to a child," said Diane Rolfe, an organizer and former Palo Alto teacher.

A group of five panelists will discuss school-district funding, fundraising and the emotional needs of children at the forum sponsored by the local chapter of the American Association of University Women. School board president Cathy Kroymann will moderate.

Rolfe is expecting a full house -- around 200 people --especially in light of the most recent district cuts.

"Every seat will be taken," she predicted.

Last year the district cut approximately $4 million from its budget -- some of that in counseling services. This year the district cut $1.5 million, making reductions in course offerings and staffing levels. Due to an unexpected drop in property-tax revenue, the district may have to cut up to $1.1 million more.

This trend in school-budget cuts was the impetus for the event, Rolfe said. That, and the fact that kids are growing up in a community that is less connected than it was in the '50s and '60s.

"I would say we have bigger problems today for youth in many respects than we did when I was growing up. True, the '50s were very conformist, but I never heard of any child committing suicide, ever," Rolfe said.

After talking about the problem with friends in the association, she thought it was time to mobilize the community against more cuts. The group has a history of social action; Rolfe is the chapter's social-action chair.

"It's time to bring people together so we care about each other -- so we can work together focusing on the children and the schools," she said.

The suicides of two Palo Alto High School students over the past year, as well as an impression that alcohol use is high among teens, has gravely concerned many in the district, Kroymann said.

She agreed with Rolfe about a waning emphasis on support for education and on families spending time together.

In the Baby Boom era "a lot of money went into infrastructure, building new schools and things that supported children and families, and I think we've probably seen a decrease in that," she said.

Besides aiming to build community support for students and schools, the meeting is a chance for locals who don't have kids in Palo Alto schools to learn more about funding issues and the district, she said.

The panel was formed with the intent of having both fiscal and emotional needs represented. Speakers include Superintendent Mary Frances Callan, Palo Alto Medical Foundation health education manager Becky Beacom, and All Schools Fund member Geoff Kerr.

Beacom said she'll focus her talk on the emotional health of kids in the school district and the need for the medical foundation to work with the community and schools to further health education.

"We need to be working together if we're talking about the emotional health of kids," she said.

The association also got a bevy of local groups to sponsor the event, including the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Adolescent Counseling Services and the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce. Getting sponsors was easy, Rolfe said.

"It was like, 'Hey, count me in,'" she said. Staff writer Rachel Metz can be e-mailed at rmetz@paweekly.com.

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