San Pedro
Science Center Temporarily Rescued At the Last Minute
By Diana L.
Chapman
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| John Zalvaney, the science director, shows off a turkey at the site with David Kooper, former chief of staff for LAUSD School Board Member Richard Vladovic. |
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| The director shows off one of his many reptiles. |
Los Angeles
Unified School officials reversed their decision to remove staff from the
Science Center in San Pedro within the month and will allow the employees to
remain until the end of June, administrators said Friday.
This halts
the possible shut down of the science center for several months while the
district launches a hunt for a
non-profit or sponsor to take over the 3 1/2 acre site, which opened in 1927
and has taught thousands of kids world science and nature.
Initially
center director John Zavalney was told he had two weeks to pack up and other
employees about a month. He said he couldn't talk to the media and directed
calls to his wife.
"He's
thrilled," said Zavalney's wife, Darlene. " It's a huge relief. Now
there's time to help look for a non-profit and do it right. I think something
wonderful will come from this."
Nanette
Roeland also breathed a sigh of relief. She has cared for the farm animals
there for 11 years and was told earlier she could be shifted to the Grananda
Hills Science Center.
The animals
are her family, she said.
"They (school officials) said the animals will be ok and I will be here
for those animals," Roeland said after a Friday's morning meeting.
"I'm somewhat relieved that I didn't have to go to Granada Hills. I can't
leave the animals. I can't."
The center
has a unique history with the district housing animals such as goats, chickens
and turkeys along with larger farm animals, including Ophelia, a 300 plus pound
sow, and Peaches a Shetland pony. Zavalney also had a collection of 30 reptiles
at the sight.
Initially,
the district announced removal of staff within the month-- detailing that employees
were not allowed to discuss the matter or mar plans for a future group to take
over. No agency had been named to run the site. The action became a public relations
nightmare as rumors swirled that the staff was being cleared out to make way for
acquaintances of Los Angeles School Board Member Richard Vladovic.
Chris
Torres, chief-of-staff for Vladovic, said there were never plans to hand off
the center to a volunteer or a woman that once ran the program years ago. Vladovic,
he said, in a last ditch effort to avoid
the center's permanent closure -- prompted the non-profit request once top
administrators targeted it for a final closure.
School
officials will shortly put out requests for proposals to start the search, Torres said.
In a released statement, Vladovic explained: "I will
continue to work with Deputy Superintendent Jaime Aquino and his office in
identifying a group that is passionate about providing unique learning
experiences to our students and the community."
The board
member renamed the facility a few years ago calling it the Vic and Bonnie
Christensen Science and Sustainability
Center. The couple had run a volunteer program after saving it from closure in 1969. Christensen left in
1992 and says she has no plans to run the facility, one of the rumors that
started. She does, however, want to help pick the non-profit and gather
volunteers.
For the past
five years, Vladovic fought to keep the center open, but top administrators
told him the district no longer has $350,000 to $400,000 on an annual basis to
keep it running amid gigantic swaths of budget cuts that have removed a
plethora of teachers and support staff from campuses.
In the past,
Vladovic fought for funding to keep open the district's Center of Marine Studies, also in
San Pedro adjacent to the Marine Mammal Care Center. That program teaches hundreds of students
about marine life. The interim director there, Chris Nagel, said with many
programs closing due to intense budget cuts, he fears for the marine studies
program.
"Vladovic
has been 100 percent about saving us," Nagel said. "They (Vladovic and staff) have fought tooth and
nail to save it. It makes you wonder who's next."
