Parents’ Activism Pays Off for a Preschool : Day care: The facility’s mostly Latino parents persuade Oxnard City Council to spend $8,000 on repairs and security.

The Green Valley day-care center opened Tuesday as it does most mornings, with the working poor depositing their children at a graffiti-scarred building tucked into a barrio park in Oxnard’s La Colonia district.

But there was a time when parents and teachers wondered whether the preschool ever would open again.

Last December, the center was shut down after burglars gutted the building during a series of break-ins, making off with everything from a copy machine to a vacuum cleaner to a birthday cake. In one episode, vandals tipped over a toilet and flooded the schoolhouse.

In a rare display of community activism, parents stormed City Hall during the six weeks the center was closed to demand repairs and more security at the city-owned building.

“We asked our city leaders to help us, to fix this so our children could return,” said Rafael Magallon, whose 5-year-old Yesenia has attended the school since she was a toddler. “After all, these children are our future.”

Responding to those demands, the Oxnard City Council on Tuesday agreed to spend $8,000 in federal money to fix up the building and increase security.

“We’re very pleased we are able to help a group that is really providing an outstanding service to a big segment of the community,” Mayor Manuel Lopez said Tuesday.

The money will be used to re-fence the playground, reinforce metal screens that guard the center’s windows and convert an unused wading pool into a sandbox.

For the poor, mostly Latino parents at the preschool--farm workers and sales clerks and secretaries--the city’s decision signals a successful first venture into city politics.

“The parents were very enthusiastic about doing something for their community,” said Bertha Garcia, a mother of three who spoke the longest and the loudest months ago about the center’s problems and its needs. “It’s like everything else. If you don’t ask, you won’t get it.”

The private, state-funded preschool has served low-income families of La Colonia since the 1970s.

Of the preschool’s 57 pupils, only 10 pay to use the center because parents are charged on a sliding scale based on income. The school has a waiting list of more than 100 children.

While the building has suffered break-ins and vandalism over the years, burglars began a looting spree last October that extended through the holidays and cost the center about $15,000.

Insurance covered the cost of repairs and replacing most of the stolen items.

The Ventura office of Security Signal Devices donated an alarm system to the center. Johnson’s Television-Video of Oxnard donated a new television set.

After making their stand at City Hall, parents helped paint and decorate the center as it came back to life.

“I wanted to cry so bad when the parents were at the council meeting,” said Rosalie Rico, the center’s director. “I didn’t know we had such support.”

Parents and teachers warn there are still problems to overcome.

As the sun poked through heavy clouds Tuesday, the stench of urine from nearby park restrooms wafted across the playground. Parents say they also worry about drug dealers who sometimes conduct their business in the park.

“These things are bad for our children,” said Regino Manzano, a retired lemon picker who drops his three granddaughters at the preschool most mornings. “We just want a safe place where our children can learn and grow up.”