Bouquets and Brickbats: Lucia Mar’s make-up day plan practical

We’re delivering above-and-beyond bouquets to Lucia Mar students and teachers who voluntarily attend Saturday school in order to help improve the district’s bottom line.

The large South County school district is running some Saturday sessions so that students can make up any earlier absences, which will enable Lucia Mar to recoup some lost attendance revenue.

It’s been estimated that the district could take in as much as $300,000 if every student were to attend a Saturday session. While that’s far short of the $5 million that Lucia Mar needs to trim from its budget, every bit helps in a district that may have to cut as many as 83 positions.

With the financial situation facing public education so dire, Saturday school is one of the most practical and immediate steps a school district can take to generate revenue. If other districts don’t already have similar programs, we strongly urge them to consider starting their own.

He doesn’t know when to quit

Los Osos developer Jeff Edwards is going ahead with his March 17 meeting to discuss shutting down the Oceano County Airport to allow other development there — even though the Board of Supervisors made it abundantly clear that it has no intention of selling the property.

You’ve got to say this for Edwards: He doesn’t give up easily. But he still gets a nosediving brickbat for continuing to push for an off-course, pie-in-the-sky proposal that’s gotten little, if any, support.

In fact, according to online reports, pilots from across the state are speaking out in favor of retaining the airport. Good for them. Even better if they drop in to Oceano for a visit. We promise them happy landing bouquets if they make the trip.

Discrepancy catch equals big savings

SLO County Human Resources Director Tami Douglas-Schatz earns a well-cented bouquet for saving taxpayers $27,000 per year by discovering a salary discrepancy.

She found that the position of veterans service officer pays substantially more in SLO County than in comparable counties like Monterey and Santa Barbara. That led her to recommend that the Board of Supervisors reduce the rate of pay to bring it in line with the prevailing wage.

The board agreed to reduce the salary to just less than $7,000 per month. The change takes effect next month, following the retirement of the person who’s in that position. The salary adjustment is a good move that will save taxpayers some money, while still maintaining a high enough salary to attract excellent candidates to this important post.