Things have blown up larger than we anticipated. There have been numerous articles about the kindergarten issue on various websites:
Tuition will be refunded
Corvallis cuts kindergarten tuition for low-income families
Corvallis eliminates kindergarten tuition for low-income families
Corvallis eliminates kindergarten fees
Kindergarten fees in Ore. may be illegal
Oregon AG Says Schools Can't Charge For Kindergarten
A local news station came to campus and did an interview with me for this one: (click on the video link)
Refund time for some Corvallis School District families
These articles center around the State Superintendent of Schools, Susan Castillo.
Castillo's Multi-Million Dollar Mistake (Updated with Castillo Response)
Castillo Releases DOJ Letter on Full-Day Kindergarten
In this one, I end up as Rich Bjarnason
Full-day kindergarten runs afoul of state law
In this one, we actually filed a lawsuit (never happened)
Oregon AG: No tuition for full-day kindergarten
Today, we testified at the State Capitol before the Senate Education Committee. A Portland news station picked up a little of the testimony. Here's the link:
Legislators to weigh charging for all-day kindergarten through 2010
(click on the video link for about three seconds of our testimony).
We were very pleased with the variety of testimony that we heard. It was very enlightening. The meeting centered around some proposed legislation that would allow tuition to be charged for full-day kindergarten through the end of the 2008-2009 school year. The legislation would also absolve the offending districts from any fiscal responsibility (protecting them from lawsuits).
Our written testimony lasted about 4 minutes long, and then the committee asked us questions for another 5 minutes or so. It was a great experience.
Here's a text version of our testimony:
In 2005 our daughter was preparing to enter kindergarten. Although we felt she was ready for a full day program, we could not afford the \$290 monthly tuition. After meeting with the teacher of the free half-day program we were satisfied that this would be a good fit for our daughter and this 5-day half-day program is the one she attended. We were very disappointed the following year to hear that the half-day program had been cut in favor of two full-day programs that each required a monthly fee. Under the new system, those families who could not afford to pay the monthly tuition were advised to enter a lottery style drawing for a limited number of scholarships. If they did not win the lottery, and could still not afford the fees, they could enroll their student in the 3-day full-day program and remove them from class during lunch of the third day, thus limiting their student to the mandated 2 and a half days of instruction.
As we discussed our options for our younger children, we were discouraged that the half day program was no longer available, and felt it was unfair to administer education based on the amount of money a family could pay. On January 10, 2007, we began a series of discussions that led us from our local principal to various personnel at the offices of Corvallis School District 509J, including Superintendent Dawn Tarzian and eventually to a scheduled School Board Hearing for June 11. Our concerns centered with the practice of charging tuition for a public school program, especially in the case of low-income families, a practice that is expressly prohibited in Section 139.147 of the Oregon Revised Statutes. At each step, we were assured that the district was correctly applying the law. At each step, we remained confident in our interpretation of the laws regarding tuition for public schools, especially regarding low-income families.
On June 7, four days prior to our scheduled hearing, we received an email from Superintendent Tarzian requesting an indefinite postponement of the hearing. In this request, the district indicated that they had never fully addressed the issue surrounding low-income families, and had requested advice from the Oregon Department of Education, who in turn had sought counsel from the Attorney General's Office. We agreed to the postponement and were advised by Superintendent Tarzian that the Attorney General would likely take 3 to 4 months to issue an opinion. After more than 5 months we contacted our State Representative, Sara Gelser, who requested a resolution from both the Oregon Department of Education and the Department of Justice. Within a week, we had received a letter from Superintendent Tarzian indicating changes in district policy that resolved our major concerns. It was at this time that we became aware of the final opinion delivered by Assistant Attorney General Serena Hewitt to the Department of Education. In that letter the DOJ concluded that full day kindergarten is a regular school program and that school districts may not charge students to participate. It is our understanding that this opinion has prompted today's meeting and the proposed legislation.
As parents and citizens of Oregon, we are concerned with the proposed legislation that will allow school districts to continue the practice of charging tuition for regular school programs. We maintain, as we have from the beginning, that a tuition-based public school system discriminates against the very students that most desperately need the additional instruction.
Additionally, we fundamentally question the practice of enacting legislation that acknowledges a behavior was illegal yesterday, enables it today and declares it illegal once again in three years time.
We appreciate the opportunity we have been given to testify, and will be happy to answer any questions.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Resolution
This past Friday, we received a letter in the mail from Superintendent Dawn Tarzian. This is what it read:
November 20, 2007
Dear Ron and Denise,
Thank you for you patience in waiting for this response regarding your complaint about the kindergarten enrichment program at the Corvallis School District. It appears that the one unresolved issue involved the right of children of "low-income families" to attend without tuition any supplemental kindergarten program offered beyond half time. We contacted the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) to seek guidance. As you have heard from Representative Gelser, ODE will not share the attorney opinion regarding this matter.
In light of this news, we contacted the district's attorney once again to seek guidance. As a result, beginning this school year, the kindergarten enrichment program will be free to low-income families who registered for this option.
Your inquiries raised issues that needed clarification and I am glad to tell you that we have worked with principals to clarify how the kindergarten program will work. Transportation will be provided for families who live beyond one mile from their neighborhood school. The basic kindergarten program will be explained as the main program that provides the academic and social structure for kindergarten students. The supplemental program extending the time at school for kindergarten students will be referred to as enrichment, rather than all-day kindergarten. I use the term "enrichment" because it is not an academic program that offers any teaching beyond the regular kindergarten program. And now, rather than providing limited or partial scholarships, low-income families can send their students to attend the enrichment portion without tuition.
If you still feel that your complaint is unsatisfied, please contact Julie Catala to arrange an appeal hearing with the school board.
Sincerely,
Dawn Tarzian
Superintendent
We are a bit confused by the statement regarding ODE refusing to share the attorney opinion, mostly because have heard no such thing from Representative Gelser. Nonetheless, we are pleased with this resolution. We hope that the principals have been properly instructed, and are anxious to attend the kindergarten meetings in the coming months.
We passed the news on to Representative Gelser and Jennifer Moody.
November 20, 2007
Dear Ron and Denise,
Thank you for you patience in waiting for this response regarding your complaint about the kindergarten enrichment program at the Corvallis School District. It appears that the one unresolved issue involved the right of children of "low-income families" to attend without tuition any supplemental kindergarten program offered beyond half time. We contacted the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) to seek guidance. As you have heard from Representative Gelser, ODE will not share the attorney opinion regarding this matter.
In light of this news, we contacted the district's attorney once again to seek guidance. As a result, beginning this school year, the kindergarten enrichment program will be free to low-income families who registered for this option.
Your inquiries raised issues that needed clarification and I am glad to tell you that we have worked with principals to clarify how the kindergarten program will work. Transportation will be provided for families who live beyond one mile from their neighborhood school. The basic kindergarten program will be explained as the main program that provides the academic and social structure for kindergarten students. The supplemental program extending the time at school for kindergarten students will be referred to as enrichment, rather than all-day kindergarten. I use the term "enrichment" because it is not an academic program that offers any teaching beyond the regular kindergarten program. And now, rather than providing limited or partial scholarships, low-income families can send their students to attend the enrichment portion without tuition.
If you still feel that your complaint is unsatisfied, please contact Julie Catala to arrange an appeal hearing with the school board.
Sincerely,
Dawn Tarzian
Superintendent
We are a bit confused by the statement regarding ODE refusing to share the attorney opinion, mostly because have heard no such thing from Representative Gelser. Nonetheless, we are pleased with this resolution. We hope that the principals have been properly instructed, and are anxious to attend the kindergarten meetings in the coming months.
We passed the news on to Representative Gelser and Jennifer Moody.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Reply to Rep. Gelser
Today I replied to Representative Gelser
Sara,
We sincerely appreciate your quick response to this issue. We were beginning to feel that we had exhausted our resources. Thank you for helping to address our concerns.
Hopefully this will soon be resolved.
Ron and Denise Bjarnason
Sara,
We sincerely appreciate your quick response to this issue. We were beginning to feel that we had exhausted our resources. Thank you for helping to address our concerns.
Hopefully this will soon be resolved.
Ron and Denise Bjarnason
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Rep. Sara Gelser
Almost immediately after sending my emails to Representative Sara Gelser and Senator Frank Morse, I recieved two email replies from Julie Catala (I've only included one).
Hi Ron, thanks for copying me on this.
Julie
Within hours, Representative Sara Gelser had sent me two emails. The first was a reply directed to Denise and myself.
Dear Ron and Denise,
Thank you for your letter. I have just sent a letter to Barbara Cruickshank and to Morgan Allen (the legislative liason for the Oregon Department of Education) requesting information about when the final opinion might be available. I copied you on the email, so hopefully you will be included in the response. However, I will be sure to let you know what I learn.
Thank you for writing. Please don't hesitate to contact my office again if I can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Sara
Representative Sara Gelser
House District 16 (Philomath, Corvallis)
Capitol Line: (503) 986-1416
rep.saragelser@state.or.us
http://www.leg.state.or.us/gelser
The second was an email to Barbara Cruickshank and Morgan Allen at the ODE that Rep. Gelser had copied us on.
Dear Barbara and Morgan,
Today I received a letter from a constituent requesting more information about the statutory authority of school districts to charge tuition to low income families for full day kindergarten. It is my understanding that the family has worked directly with the Corvallis School District (509J), and that ultimately a request was made to ODE in June for advice on this matter. The family agreed to postpone a previously scheduled appeal hearing in order to allow the district to receive this guidance.
I am told that in August, the Department received an initial letter from the Department of Justice. However, it is my understanding that at that time the Department was awaiting a review of this opinion before releasing the DOJs guidance to Corvallis 509J and the family.
Can you please advise me of the expected date of receipt of the final opinion from the Department of Justice? I understand that the family has been working with the district on this issue since last January, and are eager for a resolution. I understand that it sometimes takes a period of time to receive an opinion back from the Department of Justice. However, because the issue has been sitting with ODE and DOJ for five months, I am hopeful that a resolution may be found soon.
Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help get this information released to my constituent and my local school district more quickly.
Thank you in advance for your help. I have attached Mr. Bjarnason's correspondence below for your reference.
Sincerely,
Sara
Representative Sara Gelser
House District 16 (Philomath, Corvallis)
Capitol Line: (503) 986-1416
rep.saragelser@state.or.us
http://www.leg.state.or.us/gelser
This morning I recieved a copy of the reply from Barbara Cruickshank to Rep. Gelser.
Dear Rep. Gelser,
I am uncertain as to the status of the kindergarten tuition issue with Corvallis School District. Perhaps Morgan Allen can give you a timeframe for an opinion from the Department of Justice. I have included Cindy Hunt in my response in case she can shed some light on this outstanding issue.
Barb Cruickshank
Oregon Dept of Education
(503) xxx-xxxx
(503) xxx-xxxx Fax
----@state.or.us
Hi Ron, thanks for copying me on this.
Julie
Within hours, Representative Sara Gelser had sent me two emails. The first was a reply directed to Denise and myself.
Dear Ron and Denise,
Thank you for your letter. I have just sent a letter to Barbara Cruickshank and to Morgan Allen (the legislative liason for the Oregon Department of Education) requesting information about when the final opinion might be available. I copied you on the email, so hopefully you will be included in the response. However, I will be sure to let you know what I learn.
Thank you for writing. Please don't hesitate to contact my office again if I can be of further assistance.
Sincerely,
Sara
Representative Sara Gelser
House District 16 (Philomath, Corvallis)
Capitol Line: (503) 986-1416
rep.saragelser@state.or.us
http://www.leg.state.or.us/gelser
The second was an email to Barbara Cruickshank and Morgan Allen at the ODE that Rep. Gelser had copied us on.
Dear Barbara and Morgan,
Today I received a letter from a constituent requesting more information about the statutory authority of school districts to charge tuition to low income families for full day kindergarten. It is my understanding that the family has worked directly with the Corvallis School District (509J), and that ultimately a request was made to ODE in June for advice on this matter. The family agreed to postpone a previously scheduled appeal hearing in order to allow the district to receive this guidance.
I am told that in August, the Department received an initial letter from the Department of Justice. However, it is my understanding that at that time the Department was awaiting a review of this opinion before releasing the DOJs guidance to Corvallis 509J and the family.
Can you please advise me of the expected date of receipt of the final opinion from the Department of Justice? I understand that the family has been working with the district on this issue since last January, and are eager for a resolution. I understand that it sometimes takes a period of time to receive an opinion back from the Department of Justice. However, because the issue has been sitting with ODE and DOJ for five months, I am hopeful that a resolution may be found soon.
Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help get this information released to my constituent and my local school district more quickly.
Thank you in advance for your help. I have attached Mr. Bjarnason's correspondence below for your reference.
Sincerely,
Sara
Representative Sara Gelser
House District 16 (Philomath, Corvallis)
Capitol Line: (503) 986-1416
rep.saragelser@state.or.us
http://www.leg.state.or.us/gelser
This morning I recieved a copy of the reply from Barbara Cruickshank to Rep. Gelser.
Dear Rep. Gelser,
I am uncertain as to the status of the kindergarten tuition issue with Corvallis School District. Perhaps Morgan Allen can give you a timeframe for an opinion from the Department of Justice. I have included Cindy Hunt in my response in case she can shed some light on this outstanding issue.
Barb Cruickshank
Oregon Dept of Education
(503) xxx-xxxx
(503) xxx-xxxx Fax
----@state.or.us
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Writing our State Representative and Senator
Today I sent the following email to Representative Sara Gelser, our state Representative. I sent an identical email to Senator Frank Morse, our state Senator.
Representative Gelser,
In January of this year, my wife and I began a dialogue with the Corvallis School District (509J) about policies regarding full and half day kindergarten. Throughout this dialogue, the district representatives referenced various statutes of Oregon law in defense of their current practices. In March of this year, we questioned the district regarding compliance with ORS 339.147(1)(a,b), which prohibits required tuition for courses not part of a regular school program (with the exception of traffic safety) for low-income families. As full day kindergarten exceeds the regular school program, District 509J appears to violate this statute by offering full waivers for kindergarten tuition to only a select few low-income families (based on a lottery draw), and charging tuition to the remaining low-income families.
After talking directly with Superintendent Dawn Tarzian, we requested a School Board hearing on May 8, which was scheduled to take place on June 11 to address this and other issues. On June 7, we received a letter from the offices of District 509J indicating that they realized they had never fully addressed our concerns regarding ORS 339.147, and requested a postponement of the hearing while the issue was referred to the Oregon Department of Education (ODE).
Upon receiving their request, ODE immediately referred the case to Office of the Attorney General, where it has apparently remained since June of this year. In August, Barbara Cruickshank, with the ODE, responded to the district. She made reference to a preliminary decision made by the Department of Justice (DOJ) that needed to be reviewed. The district offices were very kind in forwarding that message to us. We responded to Ms. Cruickshank, requesting that we be included in any messages she had for the district regarding this issue. She responded that she would. Since then, we have heard nothing more from either the ODE or the DOJ.
We feel the DOJ has had ample time to formally address our concerns, and are concerned that any final decision regarding the issue has been purposefully delayed.
We appeal to you, as our state representative, to help us fully address this issue. We request that you follow up with the DOJ regarding this issue. Most schools in District 509J hold their kindergarten readiness meetings in February. It is during these meetings that each school presents parents of incoming kindergarten students with the options for the coming year. We hope this can be resolved before those meetings take place so that parents can receive accurate information regarding their kindergarten options.
A full account of our communications regarding this issue can be found at: http://corvalliskindergarten.blogspot.com/
ORS 339.147(1)(a,b) is copied to the end of this message for your reference.
This message has been copied to Julie Catala, Russ Sweet and Jennifer Moody, our primary contacts at the offices of District 509J, the Oregon Department of Education and the Corvallis Gazette/Times, respectively. We have no direct contacts with the Department of Justice. Senator Frank Morse has recieved an identical message.
Ronald and Denise Bjarnason
(address omitted for blog post)
Corvallis, OR 97333
(email omitted for blog post)
339.147 When tuition authorized; waiver of tuition and fees. (1)(a) Notwithstanding ORS 339.141, no district school board or public charter school as defined in ORS 338.005 shall require tuition for courses not part of the regular school program, except for traffic safety education, from a pupil who is a member of a low-income family in an amount in excess of what the low-income family may receive as money specifically to be used for payment of such tuition.
(b) As used in this subsection, "low-income family" means a family whose children qualify for free or reduced price school meals under a federal program, including but not limited to the National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, and all their subsequent amendments.
(from http://www.leg.state.or.us/ors/339.html)
Representative Gelser,
In January of this year, my wife and I began a dialogue with the Corvallis School District (509J) about policies regarding full and half day kindergarten. Throughout this dialogue, the district representatives referenced various statutes of Oregon law in defense of their current practices. In March of this year, we questioned the district regarding compliance with ORS 339.147(1)(a,b), which prohibits required tuition for courses not part of a regular school program (with the exception of traffic safety) for low-income families. As full day kindergarten exceeds the regular school program, District 509J appears to violate this statute by offering full waivers for kindergarten tuition to only a select few low-income families (based on a lottery draw), and charging tuition to the remaining low-income families.
After talking directly with Superintendent Dawn Tarzian, we requested a School Board hearing on May 8, which was scheduled to take place on June 11 to address this and other issues. On June 7, we received a letter from the offices of District 509J indicating that they realized they had never fully addressed our concerns regarding ORS 339.147, and requested a postponement of the hearing while the issue was referred to the Oregon Department of Education (ODE).
Upon receiving their request, ODE immediately referred the case to Office of the Attorney General, where it has apparently remained since June of this year. In August, Barbara Cruickshank, with the ODE, responded to the district. She made reference to a preliminary decision made by the Department of Justice (DOJ) that needed to be reviewed. The district offices were very kind in forwarding that message to us. We responded to Ms. Cruickshank, requesting that we be included in any messages she had for the district regarding this issue. She responded that she would. Since then, we have heard nothing more from either the ODE or the DOJ.
We feel the DOJ has had ample time to formally address our concerns, and are concerned that any final decision regarding the issue has been purposefully delayed.
We appeal to you, as our state representative, to help us fully address this issue. We request that you follow up with the DOJ regarding this issue. Most schools in District 509J hold their kindergarten readiness meetings in February. It is during these meetings that each school presents parents of incoming kindergarten students with the options for the coming year. We hope this can be resolved before those meetings take place so that parents can receive accurate information regarding their kindergarten options.
A full account of our communications regarding this issue can be found at: http://corvalliskindergarten.blogspot.com/
ORS 339.147(1)(a,b) is copied to the end of this message for your reference.
This message has been copied to Julie Catala, Russ Sweet and Jennifer Moody, our primary contacts at the offices of District 509J, the Oregon Department of Education and the Corvallis Gazette/Times, respectively. We have no direct contacts with the Department of Justice. Senator Frank Morse has recieved an identical message.
Ronald and Denise Bjarnason
(address omitted for blog post)
Corvallis, OR 97333
(email omitted for blog post)
339.147 When tuition authorized; waiver of tuition and fees. (1)(a) Notwithstanding ORS 339.141, no district school board or public charter school as defined in ORS 338.005 shall require tuition for courses not part of the regular school program, except for traffic safety education, from a pupil who is a member of a low-income family in an amount in excess of what the low-income family may receive as money specifically to be used for payment of such tuition.
(b) As used in this subsection, "low-income family" means a family whose children qualify for free or reduced price school meals under a federal program, including but not limited to the National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, and all their subsequent amendments.
(from http://www.leg.state.or.us/ors/339.html)
Barbara Cruickshank's response
This was Barbara's response (back on September 5)
Hi Ronald and Denise,
I would be happy to include you in any correspondence that I email to Corvallis SD regarding the kindergarten tuition issue. I will do my best to remember to include you in any updates. I have placed your email address in my contact information for Kathy Rodeman. Hopefully that will trigger my memory when ODE has any new kindergarten tuition information.
I apologize for the length of time it takes for these things to process. There has not been anything new that I can recall since the August 14, 2007 letter you attached.
Barb Cruickshank
Oregon Dept of Education
(503) xxx-xxxx
(503) xxx-xxxx Fax
barbara.cruickshank@state.or.us
Hi Ronald and Denise,
I would be happy to include you in any correspondence that I email to Corvallis SD regarding the kindergarten tuition issue. I will do my best to remember to include you in any updates. I have placed your email address in my contact information for Kathy Rodeman. Hopefully that will trigger my memory when ODE has any new kindergarten tuition information.
I apologize for the length of time it takes for these things to process. There has not been anything new that I can recall since the August 14, 2007 letter you attached.
Barb Cruickshank
Oregon Dept of Education
(503) xxx-xxxx
(503) xxx-xxxx Fax
barbara.cruickshank@state.or.us
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Request to the Oregon Department of Education
As we have not heard anything on the kindergarten issue in a few weeks, I sent this email to Barbara Cruickshank at the Oregon Department of Education:
Barb,
We were recently forwarded an email that you had sent to Kathy Rodeman at the Corvallis School District.
My wife and I have been discussing kindergarten issues with Corvallis School District 509J since January of this year. The inquiries made to the ODE and DOJ are a direct result of these discussions.
While we appreciate the district including us in on your emails, we would appreciate it if you could copy us in on any decisions or directives issued by the Oregon Department of Justice.
If you have received or sent any such notices in the past two weeks (since August 14), we are not aware of them, and would request that those be forwarded us.
Sincerely,
Ronald and Denise Bjarnason
xxxx@gmail.com
Barb,
We were recently forwarded an email that you had sent to Kathy Rodeman at the Corvallis School District.
My wife and I have been discussing kindergarten issues with Corvallis School District 509J since January of this year. The inquiries made to the ODE and DOJ are a direct result of these discussions.
While we appreciate the district including us in on your emails, we would appreciate it if you could copy us in on any decisions or directives issued by the Oregon Department of Justice.
If you have received or sent any such notices in the past two weeks (since August 14), we are not aware of them, and would request that those be forwarded us.
Sincerely,
Ronald and Denise Bjarnason
xxxx@gmail.com
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