By CUSD Insider

Thirty-one people from the Capistrano Unified School District visited the State Capitol recently to advocate for children and families in the district, an annual trip that organizers say makes a big difference to decision-makers.

The event is dubbed Sacramento Safari and is organized by the Fourth District PTA, composed of 20 councils representing all Orange County PTA members and a portion of Los Angeles County’s.

On Feb. 26 and 27, Sacramento Safari participants heard from policymakers ranging from OC representatives like Assemblywoman Diane Dixon of Newport Beach to Tony Thurmond, the state superintendent of public instruction. Attendees from CUSD included PTA members, two students, CUSD Board President Krista Castellanos and Superintendent Dr. Christopher Brown.

Topics of note this year ranged from artificial intelligence to mental health, gun violence, and overall safety, to making sure there are adequate personnel of counselors on campus, anti-bullying measures, and social media precautions.

The main topic of this year’s event was the budget and the impacts that the predicted state budget deficit will have on schools. Attendees heard from three presenters on the state of the California budget shortfall: Ken Kappahahn from the Legislative Analysis Office (LAO), a non-partisan fiscal and policy advisor; Kevin Gordon from Capitol Advisors Group, a group of experts in California politics and education policy; and Christopher Reefe from the California School Board Association.

When meeting with the legislators, attendees advocated for Prop. 98 to be protected and cuts be made from other areas of the budget before education. Capistrano Unified, like 25 percent of school districts in the state, are considered low-funded districts, which means they receive less money per student than most of the surrounding districts. Any budget cuts are devastating for an already low-funded district like Capistrano Unified.

“Every year it’s different,” said attendee Luca Grecu Klaus, president of the Aliso Viejo Middle School PTA. “We get the latest updates. We get in a room with other districts. We can network with them and discuss the issues we are facing in education.”

Klaus first got involved with her PTA after seeing students learning from portable classrooms. She wanted better facilities for the community. Klaus and fellow attendee Jessica Geyer, who both serve on the Capistrano Unified Council of PTSA, commented on how during Sacramento Safari they form a collective voice.

“When we go to the Capitol and there are 80 of us, it’s a different perspective,” Klaus said. “We can speak with the voice of the PTA.”

“And when we walk in, we are not lobbyists,” added Geyer. “We are 80 volunteers. It makes a huge impact for the legislator and their staff to hear from actual parents, not people who are being paid to talk about certain things. We come in with personal stories. We are very informed and educated about how our schools run and how our public schools are performing.”

Geyer said policymakers don’t always hear the on-the-ground parent perspective like theirs.

“It has a really big impact on them,” she said. “They share that with us. They’re grateful for the volunteerism, parents like us going to talk to them.”

The common perception about the PTA is that they raise funds through bake sales and book fairs. Not quite, Geyer and Klaus said.

“We do all that, and it raises money for our schools and students,” Geyer said. “But we are actually a 127-year-old advocacy organization. That’s how we started. We are nonpartisan … the full function of our organization is an advocacy organization.”

Parents are encouraged to get involved. To get started, email [email protected]

“We are a very informed, educated group of people,” Geyer added. “We really are trying to engage our community in understanding things that are really complicated. We can make a difference if we work together and we advocate for all our children, all of our students.”

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