By Kevin Herrera
Daily Press Staff Writer

DISTRICT HDQTRS. — Following an outcry from the parenting community, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified school board agreed Thursday to restore one sentence deleted from a description of duties for Community Advisory Committees, or DACs.

Last month, the Board of Education voted to change language describing the overall duties of DACs to better specify and clarify each committees’ responsibilities, which can be changed annually to fit particular needs. DACs are advisory councils comprised of parents, teachers and concerned community members specializing in special education, health and child care, among other areas.

While district officials said the removal of the language did not change the function of the committees, those who voluntarily serve on them said they felt the move was intended to decrease their influence in shaping policy at the district. Many were offended by the deletion.

In response, the board decided at its last meeting that it would bring the issue back for discussion.

On Thursday night, members did just that, seeming to lean in favor of restoring the old language, which in their minds, would help restore trust in the community and foster further collaboration at a time when the district is trying to devise its Facilities Master Plan, a 20-year guide for school use and construction.

The board is expected to approve the change to DAC language at its next meeting, scheduled for Feb. 16 at City Hall.

“Trying to be specific inadvertently caused confusion,” board member Maria Leon-Vazquez said. “We never intended to silence the public.”

“Usually, when you want to clarify something, you don’t delete,” board member Jose Escarce added.

The sentence that was deleted said the functions of the DACs are “to assist in the overall planning of the educational programing and of budget resources.”

The board said DACs are only responsible for advising on their individual programs and not on overall educational programing and budget allocations.

Following the meeting, Tricia Crane of the Special Education DAC said she was pleased with the board’s decision.

“We felt there were never any problems with the way the language was written before,” Crane said. “We never felt there was any reason to change it.”

Great Teachers

In other action, the school board also honored those teachers who will receive National Board Certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, or NBPTS, a non-profit organization governed by classroom teachers who recognize the best and the brightest educators.

The local district has one of the highest concentrations of certified teachers anywhere in the country, with 8 percent of total teachers in the district holding a NBPTS certificate, according to district officials. There are 54 such teachers in the district.

New Turf

The board also approved a joint-use project for John Adams Middle School that will replace the heavily-used grass fields there with all-weather, artificial turf that district officials hope will cut down on maintenance costs.

Santa Monica College, which holds women’s soccer practices and games at John Adams, will pay for the project with money from Measure S, a bond passed by voters a couple of years ago. Planners of the project hope to have the new turf installed by mid-summer.