School District Seeks Tsunami Compensation

When the earthquake struck Japan on March 11, many parents were concerned of the tsunami's potential ripple effect on the California coast and kept many students at home, reported Chief Business Official Raul Parungao. Though all schools in the remained in session on March 11, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in four counties, including San Mateo County.

Of the district’s 8,740 students, 728 were absent, resulting in a loss of $25,565 for the district because the school district receives money based on attendance.

$25,000 could amount to half a teaching position, according to Parungao.

To recuperate some of those losses, the board applied for a “Request for Allowance of Attendance Because of Emergency Condition” to the state Department of Education.

“It’d be so easy to say, ‘no we can’t do that because we don’t have the staffing,’ but our district continually tries to pull in revenue where it can,” trustee Dennis McBride said.

The board similarly applied for a reimbursement back in October 2010 to receive compensation for the flu-like illnesses that broke out during the fall 0f 2009.

Students were absent for a total of 17,841 days. On June 23, 2010, the district received approval for $673,029, which was then funneled into the 2010-2011 budget.