Boys & Girls Club, Adult Ed to share building
2:42 AM
The East County Boys & Girls Club has a new roommate.
The Pittsburg school district recently amended a lease agreement with the youth organization, transferring ownership of the building to the district. The deal allows the Pittsburg Adult Education Center use of the Albert D. Seeno Community Resource Building during school hours, evenings and weekends, with the Boys & Girls Club continuing to offer after-school tutoring and recreation programs.
The decision came after months of negotiations, including a proposal by a group of private investors who operate Concord's Community Youth Center to merge and create an East County version of the CYC at the Stoneman Avenue site.
As part of the lease agreement, the Adult Education Center will pay $50,000 to the Boys & Girls Club to use the facility until 2035 — the duration of the contract. More important, Adult Education will fund upkeep and day-to-day operations of the bedraggled building, helping
the financially strapped Boys & Girls Club, district officials said.
"It relieves a huge burden for them, and allows them to focus their efforts solely on their programs and continuing to help our kids," district trustee Vince Ferrante said.
Boys & Girls Club Executive Director Robert Cleveland said it will be much easier not having to worry about such expenses as utilities. The club is funded by donations, facility rental and grant money — all three
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of which can fluctuate.
The Adult Education Center will move out of modular classrooms into the building — allowing the program of 12,000 adults to grow. The move is set to take place April 1.
Future district budget cuts will not affect funding, said Superintendent Barbara Wilson, noting that money for building improvement and repair would come from Adult Education's budget, which is separate from the district's.
"Really, the only ongoing costs the district will have to worry about are maintenance costs," Wilson said.
The building needs roof, air conditioning and handicap accessibility repairs. Adult Education is responsible for construction and major maintenance, Principal Bob Beck said.
The new arrangement will include creation of a training academy for health occupations that will be more affordable than a private institution offering the same education, Beck said. A conference room with modern technology also will be available, he said.
Two Pittsburg school district officials will sit on the Boys & Girls Club board as part of the deal. "We hope to make it a real jewel again and a community resource everyone can use," Beck said.
Before the deal with the district, the Boys & Girls Club sought partnerships to stabilize the program with Martinez Boys & Girls Club and Concord's Community Youth Center, board President Peter Garcia said. Funding for the Pittsburg club has been tough to come by, he said, reflecting a trend among Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide.
The club resorted to renting out the building for fundraisers that sold alcohol, which is prohibited in the new deal.
Discussions to integrate the Community Youth Center and Boys & Girls Club started in 2007, and a deal was reached in early 2008 with the help of a third-party mediator, Garcia said.
That deal would have adopted the Community Youth Center program model, including allowing drop-ins, providing scholarships to children with financial needs, and continuing after-school programs. The Community Youth Center would have assumed the club's financial obligations and taken over the lease.
Superintendent Wilson said the Boys & Girls Club came to the district with a "change to their lease to essentially substitute CYC." However, it wasn't in the district's or the taxpayers' interest to move away from a public organization that offers academic support and tutoring to a private entity whose sole purpose is recreation, she said.
Eventually, the idea was hatched to bring in Adult Education. The Boys & Girls Club board went with that offer after figuring the Community Youth Center proposal "either stalled or was dead," Garcia said.
"(With the Adult Education deal) we came up with a partnership that would keep the Boys & Girls Club solvent and continue educational support for children while expanding learning opportunities to the broader community," Wilson said.
The Pittsburg school district recently amended a lease agreement with the youth organization, transferring ownership of the building to the district. The deal allows the Pittsburg Adult Education Center use of the Albert D. Seeno Community Resource Building during school hours, evenings and weekends, with the Boys & Girls Club continuing to offer after-school tutoring and recreation programs.
The decision came after months of negotiations, including a proposal by a group of private investors who operate Concord's Community Youth Center to merge and create an East County version of the CYC at the Stoneman Avenue site.
As part of the lease agreement, the Adult Education Center will pay $50,000 to the Boys & Girls Club to use the facility until 2035 — the duration of the contract. More important, Adult Education will fund upkeep and day-to-day operations of the bedraggled building, helping
the financially strapped Boys & Girls Club, district officials said.
"It relieves a huge burden for them, and allows them to focus their efforts solely on their programs and continuing to help our kids," district trustee Vince Ferrante said.
Boys & Girls Club Executive Director Robert Cleveland said it will be much easier not having to worry about such expenses as utilities. The club is funded by donations, facility rental and grant money — all three
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of which can fluctuate.
The Adult Education Center will move out of modular classrooms into the building — allowing the program of 12,000 adults to grow. The move is set to take place April 1.
Future district budget cuts will not affect funding, said Superintendent Barbara Wilson, noting that money for building improvement and repair would come from Adult Education's budget, which is separate from the district's.
"Really, the only ongoing costs the district will have to worry about are maintenance costs," Wilson said.
The building needs roof, air conditioning and handicap accessibility repairs. Adult Education is responsible for construction and major maintenance, Principal Bob Beck said.
The new arrangement will include creation of a training academy for health occupations that will be more affordable than a private institution offering the same education, Beck said. A conference room with modern technology also will be available, he said.
Two Pittsburg school district officials will sit on the Boys & Girls Club board as part of the deal. "We hope to make it a real jewel again and a community resource everyone can use," Beck said.
Before the deal with the district, the Boys & Girls Club sought partnerships to stabilize the program with Martinez Boys & Girls Club and Concord's Community Youth Center, board President Peter Garcia said. Funding for the Pittsburg club has been tough to come by, he said, reflecting a trend among Boys & Girls Clubs nationwide.
The club resorted to renting out the building for fundraisers that sold alcohol, which is prohibited in the new deal.
Discussions to integrate the Community Youth Center and Boys & Girls Club started in 2007, and a deal was reached in early 2008 with the help of a third-party mediator, Garcia said.
That deal would have adopted the Community Youth Center program model, including allowing drop-ins, providing scholarships to children with financial needs, and continuing after-school programs. The Community Youth Center would have assumed the club's financial obligations and taken over the lease.
Superintendent Wilson said the Boys & Girls Club came to the district with a "change to their lease to essentially substitute CYC." However, it wasn't in the district's or the taxpayers' interest to move away from a public organization that offers academic support and tutoring to a private entity whose sole purpose is recreation, she said.
Eventually, the idea was hatched to bring in Adult Education. The Boys & Girls Club board went with that offer after figuring the Community Youth Center proposal "either stalled or was dead," Garcia said.
"(With the Adult Education deal) we came up with a partnership that would keep the Boys & Girls Club solvent and continue educational support for children while expanding learning opportunities to the broader community," Wilson said.
