MONDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2011
Volume 10 Issue 294
Santa Monica Daily Press
BOLTS GIVE UP LATE LEAD SEE PAGE 13
We have you covered
THE PICTURE OF THE SEASON ISSUE
Where PTAs spend their raised funds Letters show trend of instructional materials, teachers, programs BY ASHLEY ARCHIBALD Daily Press Staff Writer
DISTRICTWIDE The vast majority of the
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REACHING OUT: Samohi wide receiver Anthony ‘Animal’ Hernandez (right) makes a catch against Beverly Hills on Friday on the road.
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Samohi stays unbeaten in league BY DANIEL ARCHULETA Managing Editor
BEVERLY HILLS Santa Monica exchanged jabs with rival Beverly Hills all night, but delivered the knock out punch during a fourth quarter that saw the Vikings score 16 points, securing a 36-14 road win on Friday. The quarter’s flourish was punctuated by a 45-yard punt return for a score by jun-
ior wide receiver Sebastian LaRue that gave Santa Monica High School’s football team a lead that would prove to hold up. The victory improves Samohi to 6-1 overall and more importantly keeps them unbeaten in Ocean League play at 2-0. “He’s a special player, what can you say?” Head Coach Travis Clark said of LaRue. “He’s made of different stuff.” Despite the lopsided final score, the game
was in question through the first three quarters of play. Samohi struck first with a fouryard touchdown run by senior running back Kori Garcia that gave the Vikings an early 60 lead. The score was set up by a 57-yard pass from quarterback Christian Salem to wide receiver Anthony “Animal” Hernandez on the first play from scrimmage. SEE SAMOHI PAGE 10
Survey: Gas prices up 5 cents in past two weeks ASSOCIATED PRESS CAMARILLO A survey says the average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline has risen nearly five cents over the past two weeks. The Lundberg Survey of fuel prices
released Sunday puts the price of a gallon of regular at $3.47. Costs have seen similar hikes in midgrade, now at an average of $3.62 a gallon, and premium at $3.74. Diesel is up four cents to $3.89 a gallon. Of the cities surveyed, Albuquerque,
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N.M., had the nation's lowest average price for gas at $3.15, and Los Angeles had the highest at $3.86. In California, the lowest average price was $3.73 in Bakersfield. The average statewide was $3.82, up a nickel in the twoweek span.
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money raised by school-site Parent Teacher Associations gets spent on staff, either for special programs, like the arts, or teacher aides. It’s a process that creates gaps between schools with the ability to raise more money than others. That’s according to four years worth of commitment letters sent to the district by school-site PTAs between the 2008-09 and 2011-12 school years that show money promised for copy machines, field trips, programs and program personnel. The topic of how much parents can fundraise for their neighborhood schools and where that money is spent has taken front seat in recent weeks as district officials research the concept of districtwide fundraising, a mechanism which could dramatically change what programs are available at schools throughout the district. Although they are not a full accounting of PTA expenditures, commitment letters are the mechanism by which PTAs use their hard-won dollars to cover personnel costs like salaries and benefits. They’re also useful for equipment purchases, like those for a copy machine or classroom technology. They can be written generally — in the 2009-10 school year, Grant Elementary paid out $125,000 for “instructional assistants and other instruction” — or for specific people. Franklin Elementary School, for instance, consistently hired back the same people across the four years examined. PTAs also pay for academic programming that wouldn’t be available otherwise through SEE PTA PAGE 7
TAXES ALL FORMS, ALL TYPES, ALL STATES
BACK TAXES • BOOKKEEPING • SMALL BUSINESS
SAMUEL B. MOSES, CPA
(310) 395-9922
100 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1800Santa Monica 90401