[SJAAboard] Local school planetarium may close

[Craig Scull]

(see forwarded message below)
A local planetarium experienced by 18,000 children per year for the past 30 years may be closing due to budget cuts. I don't know how real a possibility this is, or if there is any way we could help, but I thought we should be aware of this. I suppose fund raising might be an option for them.

If they charged $5 per admission, half of their budget would already be covered and then they might be a large enough target for the budget-gun to see.

My friend who forwarded this to me notes  "If you go to the web site http://ihplanet.org,
they ask you to email the school district superintendent and the school board
members. You could compose an email protesting the closure and forward it and
all your members who could then send that email to the school district leaders.
It would fill up their inboxes."       However, I remember Rob saying at one of the meetings that there are limitations in what we can do, but at the least we could make people aware of the issue and then let them decide to take action or not.


Craig


 
-----Original Message-----
From: Gail Chaid [mailto:gchaid at gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2008 2:53 PM
To: elist at wgna.net
Subject: [WGNA] Mildred Overfelt Legacy/Independence
Planetarium may close because of budget cuts
 
For Willow Glen Residents, children, parents, teachers
and those in San Jose Unified, other public school districts, private schools
or youth groups who have used Independence Planetarium, the news is that it may
close because of the state budget cuts.  The planetarium is part of the legacy from Mildred Overfelt. Part of
that legacy was explained in today's Mercury
News: http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_9412476
 
 
With the state budget cuts, the East Side Union High
School District will probably close the planetarium.  It is a multi-million dollar Building and it
costs about $185,000 per year to operate in 2008. School districts that are
this size have about a $200 million dollar budget. The planetarium is in great
shape. It could operate for many years. Taxpayers would be pleased their money
was budgeted in a frugal way to maintain this educational treasure for an
average of 18,000 children each year since 1977.
 
I am so sad for the children who may not have the
experience of being in a unique environment to learn about the night sky and
the science, history and mathematics that go with it. The planetarium is just
one more casualty of this state budget short-fall for education. The
planetarium was part of the gifting legacy from Mildred Overfelt. She gifted
ESUHSD most of the land for Independence High School with the idea that it be a
community school.
That's why Independence has an Olympic Sized swimming
pool, a theatre, a public library and a planetarium on the Independence
Educational Park high school campus.  Sylvia Lowe, mentioned in the Mercury News article, also wrote a letter
supporting Independence Planetarium.  She
is a big fan of the planetarium. As the article says, Mildred's wishes have
been ignored by those who don't understand the history of San Jose and the
intent of great citizens of the past, like Mildred Overfelt, who gave so much
to all of us. 
 
My hope is that those in charge presently will become
aware of the legacy and do the right thing for the people of San Jose. My hope
is there will be funds found somewhere to keep the planetarium, a valuable
community resource, open for the citizens of San Jose. For further information
go to our website http://ihplanet.org
 
It has been my honor to serve the community as
planetarium director for the past 18 years.
 
Gail Chaid
gchaid at gmail.com
chaidg at esuhsd.org
http://ihplanet.org
(408)928-9604
Independence Planetarium
1776 Educational Park Drive
San Jose, CA 95133