For the last two Sweetwater school board meetings, South Bay Community Services, a nonprofit organization, has been on the verge of receiving two contracts that total more than $1 million dollars. But the board has not sealed the deal; they question the efficacy of the program and want more accountability. There was no representative from SBCS at the June 8 or June 22 board meeting to answer questions. Trustee Nicholas Segura said, “If somebody was going to give me a million dollar contract, I’d be there every time it was going to be discussed.”

The contracts with SBCS are for after school programs. In the middle schools the program is called ASES, After School Education and Safety, and serves Castle Park, Granger, Mar Vista Academy and Montgomery. The ASES contract is for $643,000.

In the high schools the program is called ASSETS, After School and Safety and Enrichment Teen program and provides services for Castle Park, Mar Vista, Olympian, Palomar, Southwest and Sweetwater. The ASSETS contract is for $491,000.

According to the June 22 agenda, through these two programs students will be offered tutoring, sports, student leadership, enrichment activities, student support groups and clubs.

In a follow up conversation on June 30, Manuel Rubio, Sweetwater’s Grants & Communication Director, elaborated on the after school activities provided by SBCS. He said at the middle schools there were intermural-type sports. The programs also include computer practice, games that enhance learning, and trips to colleges.

South Bay Community Services provides tutoring and mentoring through another program called Promise Neighborhood at some of the school sites that also receive ASSETS and ASES services. When asked if any of these services overlapped or if SBCS provided additional tutors at the Promise Neighborhood sites, Rubio said, “The services provided by Promise Neighborhood are a lot more intense.”

On June 8 and June 22 the trustees articulated their reservations about the after school programs the students were receiving through SBCS. Trustee Paula Hall said she had first hand knowledge through her son’s experiences. She said kids don’t want to go to the study hall portion of the program; she said they see it as a threat rather than an academic enhancement. “You better do your homework or you’re going to be with them.”

Hall also said she had asked SBCS for back up data in the past regarding attendance and achievement of students, but did not receive any of the requested data. On the other hand, Hall is worried about data that might be collected about students in social and emotional support groups led by SBCS staff. “We [the board] are the students’ guardians,” she admonished.

Most of the trustees expressed a desire to see data from SBCS that showed student improvement; they expressed interest in seeing the educational levels of the tutors and were interested in conducting surveys that showed student and parent satisfaction. Interim superintendent Phil Stover pointed out that the Memorandum of Understanding between the district and SBCs contains a clause, which allows the district to audit the program and advised that the trustees utilize that clause.

Trustees seemed supportive of another issue brought to their attention by Troy Johnson, a Sweetwater employee and chapter president of CSEA 471. Johnson addressed the board on behalf of all three CSEA chapters. He said the organizations are concerned about the staffing of the after school programs. He said the district claims that the positions for these after school programs have been posted and that no Sweetwater employees were interested in any of the openings. The association is asking for a list of the employees who have turned it down and copies of the postings.

Via email Johnson elaborated, “Our main issue is the justification for these items under K-1 at the June 8th meeting which stated the Department (State and Federal Programs) posted these positions district wide and sent emails out at the site. We know this did not happen. So that Department basically lied to this Board. The after school tutoring has positions specific to personnel within our paraprofessional unit. I represent the Office/Tech unit but a threat to one job is a threat to all of ours.

Ramon Leyva [Sweetwater’s Director of State and Federal Programs] admitted at the Board Meeting on the 22nd he could not produce job postings. We have received preliminary findings and it confirms what we knew was true….openings were never posted at some sites. Some coordinators went to specific individuals. That is not posting or giving our classified workers an equal opportunity. That’s what we are objecting to, including the deceit that State/Federal Programs cited on the justification for SBCS.” The justification for subcontracting the jobs to SBCS is that no Sweetwater employees were interested.

The board tabled the after school contracts for South Bay Community for the second time on June 22. Leyva said that South Bay Community Services would make a presentation to the board on afterschool academic intervention services on July 13.

On the same night that the board questioned aspects of the SBCS afterschool programs, they approved similar programs provided by the YMCA.

When La Prensa queried Sweetwater board president Frank Tarantino about future contracts for any after school agencies, he responded: “Questions from the community and the board seemed to center around the academic support programs offered after school. Based on the discussions, I think that an evaluation /accountability component is what the board is looking for in all future contracts/MOU’s with agencies that provide services. The specifics to be worked out between district and agency staffs.