HOLLISTER
San Benito High School trustees voted unanimously Wednesday in declining a request to allocate $20,000 toward the new multi-agency gang coordinator position, while district officials have stressed they are on board with the partnership but cannot afford to help fund it with the state’s budget uncertainty.
Trustees voted to approve a resolution to “support the position and offer their presence to work on the policy board” and also offer a meeting venue as an in-kind contribution, Superintendent Stan Rose said. They decided against allocating the $20,000 as requested by the other participating agencies because it “could be at the risk of some of these other things we’re doing,” Rose said.
Rose called the state’s budget crisis and projected $42 billion deficit the “toughest time” in his education career.
“As a district, in all consciousness right now, we can’t do that at the expense of something else,” he said.
Rose and Board President Bill Tiffany did acknowledge, however, that fights and other potentially gang-related problems have been on the rise this year. That is why district officials say they want to stay closely involved with the new position and its direction.
Tiffany called it a “difficult problem” for many statewide communities and he said the district especially supports efforts toward prevention and suppression of gang-related issues.
“I would say it seems to be a growing problem,” Tiffany said. “It seems that this year there has been at least a slight increase in fights.”
Other agencies that are allocating funds include the city with $150,000 this year, the county with $80,000, the Hollister School District with $20,000 and the office of education with $7,000. One city councilman meanwhile, expressed disappointment today when he heard the district would not be a funding partner.
Councilman Victor Gomez said that with concerns over funding capacity growing each day, it is an important enough issue that deserves some level of financial support now.
“This is a position (for which) you might want to shift around some of your funds to fund this position,” Gomez said. “I see this position as nothing but a plus.”
The school officials both also pointed out, though, that the district does view gang issues as a priority and that SBHS provides many programs and staff resources toward improving the problem. Rose also added that the district would be “happy to revisit” the funding consideration if its financial prospects change.
Tiffany stressed that all trustees have been “generally supportive of the concept” related to the new position.
“Since the beginning of our discussions,” he said, “we’ve been concerned about the money part of it.”
City government reporter Colin McConville contributed to this report.
