By LACEY PETERSON

The Union Democrat

The laundry list of groups adversely affected by the lack of a state budget also includes child care agencies.

The California Department of Education released a list of 792 child care agencies that, without a budget, cannot be given the funding they need.

In Calaveras County, the affected agencies are Calaveras County Office of Education, Calaveras Unified School District and Human Resources Council, Inc. In Tuolumne County, Belleview Elementary School District, Curtis Creek School District and Infant-Child Enrichment Services will go without funding until legislators agree on a budget.

"It's a scary time," said ICES program manager, Chris MacKenzie. "We just hope it doesn't go very long."

ICES subsidizes childcare for 200 children in Tuolumne County, MacKenzie said. They have a line of credit which will allow services to continue, but not for long.

"There are a lot of outcomes that could come from this," MacKenzie said. The people who call them each month for childcare couldn't be helped if they're not here, she said.

Late state budgets are not news to school districts and it is something for which they plan accordingly.

"Its a fact of life," said Britta Skavdahl, Curtis Creek School District superintendent.

"They are never on time and this year it's particularly problematic," Skavdahl said. The preschool at Sullivan Creek will start along with regular school Aug. 20. However, a grant the district wrote to get funding to start an additional preschool on the Curtis Creek site, has been put on hold because of the budget debacle. The school receives $105,000 per year for the preschool.

At the Calaveras Unified School District there are two preschools solely funded by the state, said Titia Farthing, in business services. There is a part-day preschool at West Point Elementary and a full-day preschool at San Andreas Elementary that started on Monday, despite being budgetless.

The district does general fund allocations based on need in situations like this, said Michael Chimente, assistant superintendent of fiscal services.

"Everybody's in the same boat ... it's sad," Chimente said. "I guess we haven't learned to live within our means."

The West Point preschool is given about $55,000 for 180 days of service and San Andreas is given $134,000 for 180 days of service, Farthing said.

"We have done this dance with the state many times before," said Kelly Graesch, HRC child care services manager.

"We're going to make sure everyone gets paid, through the first quarter," Graesch said. "If it goes on through September, that's a different story."