The Children?s Center has submitted a budget proposal to Associated Students, Inc. that does not include and evening program for the fall 2001 and spring 2002 semesters.

Under the budget proposal, which is under review by ASI, the Children?s Center would close at 6 p.m. daily. The Center currently closes at 8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, allowing parents at Sacramento State to attend later classes. It currently services over 30 children after 6 p.m..

“I think there is a way to keep the evening program and keep quality services,” said Donna Dexter, a parent who uses the evening program and is currently lobbying to have it continue.

Many parents need the program in order to be able to attend the university, Dexter said.

“They have a right to continue their education,” Dexter said.

According to Carol Ackerson, executive director at ASI, the Children?s Center had no choice but to cut the program.

“This is not something that anyone wants to do,” Ackerson said.

Although the overall budget for the Children?s Center will be increasing by an undetermined amount, rising operation costs have forced the Center to close down the evening program, said Teri Mahan, director of the Children?s Center. The fee allocation in this year?s budget is $229,218.

“The major part of the increase was with part-time staffers,” Mahan said.

Rising minimum wages for the Center?s 100 or more part-time staff and the cost of an evening program coordinator have made the program expensive, she said. Ackerson estimates that the Center will save about $40,000 by cutting the evening program.

“The increase is going toward the operation of the day program, and not the evening program,” Mahan said.

Maintaining the quality of care took precedence over the amount of time the center would stay open, she said.

Dexter, and other users of the evening program charge that ASI could afford to keep the program running by tapping into the expected $353,848 surplus that ASI is running this year.

“ASI’s budget has a $350,000 surplus,” Dexter said in a memorandum ASI and parents “Our evening program costs $40,000 per year to run, let’s use the surplus,”

This year’s surplus will be needed to help pay off expenses that include the $250,000 deficit that ASI ran last year, Ackerson said.

“We are using that money to pay off past liabilities,” Ackerson said.

She also pointed out that not spending the entire surplus is essential for fiscal discipline.”If you spend it, the organization will not be stable,” Ackerson said.

ASI must also set aside $40,000 for a cash reserve according to the revised budget of this year.ASI is also spending money that could be used to keep the evening program operating, on less essential programs in its $6.6 million dollar budget, Dexter said.

“The problem is financial mismanagement,” Dexter said.

Under a long term contract with the university, ASI must spend 50 percent of its budget on sports, they are also locked into several other permanent expenditures, Ackerson said. The rest is a bargaining process.”Each of the programs that we do have a student constituency,” Ackerson said.

The role of ASI is to find a balance between these voices, she said.

However Dexter, and other parents have said that the program is essential in order for parents to attend the university.

“I do not know what I will do [if the children’s center is discontinued],” said Heather Sims, a student whose two children attend the evening program.

According to Ackerson, it is not ASI’s responsibility to ensure that everyone can attend the university conveniently.

“We cannot address all of the barriers that anyone might have to come to the university,” Ackerson said. Other college institutions are meeting the needs of student parents, according to Dexter.

“American River College has an evening care program that runs until 10 p.m.,” Dexter said in her memorandum.

Dexter questions why Sac State cannot support an evening program while other institutions can. However, ASI is not alone in its problems with Children’s Center budgeting, according to Ackerson.

“The is a common thing that has happened at other CSU,” Ackerson said.

Last Fall, the Children’s Center faced the prospect of closing down the children’s center for this semester, but found money in an eleventh hour deal, that allowed the center to use extra federal grant money toward its evening program. The grant was originally mandated to underwrite Children’s Center costs for Pell grant eligible students, but some money was left over after those requirements were fulfilled, Ackerson said.

“This was a one time only waver,” Ackerson said.

Keeping the program open for an extra semester has given the Parent Advisory Council ample time to come up with alternative models to the evening program for the Fall, Ackerson said.

“That gave the Parental Advisory Council the opportunity to really have a whole year to look for an alternative,” Ackerson said.

Dave Byrd, chair of the Parental Advisory Council said the council is committed to coming up with new self-sufficient models for an alternative.

“We have a committee that will continue to propose models,” Byrd said.

To date, the PAC has not come up with a specific proposal, but alternatives have been discussed.

“We don?t have specific models, we have criteria,” said Pat Grady, a representative from Student Affairs. These criteria include high quality care that is financially reasonable for students, Grady said.

She mentioned subcontracting with another child care provider as a possibility.Grady said that it is time to focus on self sufficient models rather than to lobby ASI, or the Child Center for more funding for the evening program.

“Let’s move forward to see that the services continue,” Grady said.

Dexter, and other parents using the evening program, do not think this is enough.

“I want the funding to be restored,” Dexter said.

Joe Devlin, director of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies for ASI, said that although the evening program is too costly to be kept in the budget, it is up to ASI and the university to help the PAC in coming up with an alternative.

“If ASI is going to cut the budget, they should help find an alternative,” Devlin said.

Other parents also expect to feel the pinch if the evening program is discontinued, including Jennie Yung, a graduate student, who takes classes that are only offered in the evening.

“It would be a great problem for me [to stay at Sac State],”Yung said.

Right now, the budget has been submitted to ASI for review, and will likely be changed to some degree, said Janet Rice, director of Finance and Administration at ASI, who will be one of the ASI members reviewing the budget.

“I haven’t had a chance to see what those dollars entail,” Rice said.

Dexter, a strong lobbyist for the evening program is losing faith in ASI.

“They are giving me the runaround,” Dexter said.

Dexter is currently speaking with officials around campus and is considering other options in an effort to pressure ASI to keep the evening program going.

“I am definitely considering legal action,” Dexter said.