Financial Woes of Child Center to Be Examined

The Burbank Unified School District Board will meet tonight to determine the future of a child-care center that has run a deficit of more than $453,000 over three years.

The special meeting was called in an attempt to solve the fiscal problems of the Horace Mann Children’s Center, which cares for 180 children, ages 2 to 5. City employees and workers at several Burbank-based companies, including Lockheed and Burbank Studios, are eligible to enroll their children at the center.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the district’s headquarters at 330 N. Buena Vista St.

Errors in Budgeting

The deficit, which officials said was the result of errors in budget administration, has raised fears among parents who enroll their children at the center that it may be taken over by a private firm or closed, leaving them without a convenient or suitable child-care facility.

Others are afraid that enrollment fees, which now range from $80 to $115 a week, may be raised to cover the deficit.

School officials said they may have to end or alter the program, but will try hard to keep it operating in its present form.

Insurance agent Greg Cecchini, who enrolled his 4-year-old son at the center two years ago, said parents felt the closing of the center would be a tragedy.

“It’s an innovative program, and my son has really benefited from it,” he said. The center stresses strong relationships with children and adults. It’s more than a baby-sitting service.”

‘Stability’ for Parents

Burbank School District Supt. Wayne Boulding said Thursday, “We want to be able to give some stability to parents, because this has become a highly emotional issue. Whether we can solve these financial problems remains to be seen.”

The center is administered by the school district but financed by enrollment fees. Each of the companies participating in the program contributed $10,000 to remodel a former elementary school to house it.

Board vice president Audrey Hanson said, “The problem is how we can continue to run this program and find an answer to the deficit. We can’t subsidize this program.”

The companies have said they will not pay off the entire deficit, but have indicated they may provide some help.

Parents also said they should not have to pay higher enrollment fees.

$250,000 Loan

Recently, the school district loaned the program $250,000 to cover part of the deficit and to continue operating, but the district wants the money back soon.

The deficit damaged the record of Boulding’s administration. Boulding, who is retiring next month, has accepted blame for the deficit.

“I think something like this would have to reflect badly on me,” he said. “But I would like to be remembered as the superintendent who did something about the problem.”

Mismanagement Blamed

The deficit was caused by mismanagement of the center’s $750,000 annual budget, Boulding said.

Even though the center lost at least $100,000 three straight years, the losses went unnoticed because the budgets for all three of the district’s child-care programs were lumped together in a single account, which did not reflect the deficit.

Boulding said he ordered an investigation and gave each program its own budget after the loss showed up last year.