PARENT LED FIGHT FOR EXTRA CASH.

Byline: DANA BARTHOLOMEW Staff Writer

UNIVERSAL CITY -- Forget sparsely attended PTA meetings and cookie bake-offs for cash-strapped schools.

When Patty Scripter took the lead of the Glendale High School PTA, she mobilized an army of parents willing to fight for an extra $800,000 in school funds from Sacramento.

For her advocacy efforts, Los Angeles County school officials on Friday dubbed Scripter as Parent Volunteer of the Year.

``Patty has brought parents and the community together to realize that it not only takes a village, it takes a village whose voice is heard in Sacramento,'' said Mary Boger, a member of the Glendale Unified School District board.

Under Scripter's leadership -- and numerous phone calls to parents -- PTA membership at Glendale High School rose from 125 to 1,000.

And under her guidance, parents learned the ins and outs of complicated school financing to fight for an extra $800,000 in state equalization funds.

``We really worked on advocacy -- to get people involved, to get the strength of a voice,'' said Scripter, 53, a mother of two.

``You can have a hundred bake sales, but it isn't the same as education funding from Sacramento.''

The Los Angeles County Office of Education also recognized two other parent nominees: Geri G. Miller of Encino, who officials said helped create a booster club, raise funds and reach out to other school and parent groups; and Rebekah Sutherland of Lancaster, who led her PTA, ran a school book fair that raised more than $20,000 and edited and took photographs for the school yearbook.

dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com

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