School lacked site council

Nuestro School in Live Oak lacked a site council the state requires for schools receiving funding based on the number of students provided free- or reduced-cost lunches, the Sutter County grand jury stated in its annual report released this week.

Irwin Karp, superintendent and principal of the Nuestro Elementary School District, said he'd been focused on funding and construction of a new gym at Nuestro, the panel reported.

Karp formed the council for 2008-09 after three years without such a panel, the jury noted.

"The Grand Jury finds (Karp) forthright with all his answers," stated the report, which described the gym as "a state of the art facility with a large kitchen."

Five parents, three teachers, one staff employee and Karp serve on the site council for the school on 6 acres in rural Live Oak.

Nuestro has 10 to 15 students among the 132 enrolled who qualify for the lunch program. The school received Title I funds of about $1,000 each year beginning in 2005, the jury report stated. The money was used to help pay for a teacher's aide position, Karp said.

The superintendent also discussed the school policy on transfer students. A total of 107 students are interdistrict transfers. The remaining 25 students live within the Nuestro Elementary School District boundaries.

Karp said he tries to accommodate all students who apply, and that since his arrival in 1999, only two students have been rejected for transfers because of school board policy, according to the report.

The jury recommends that new members of the panel follow up with Nuestro to verify that the school site council is continuing.