L.A. school board votes to proceed with plant manager cuts

The Los Angeles school board voted narrowly Tuesday to keep intact a budget cut that will eliminate plant managers from hundreds of elementary schools, a move that critics say will result in dirtier and less-safe campuses.

In response to concerns from parents and employees, board members had attempted to restore the positions. But L.A. Unified School District Supt. Ramon C. Cortines, who proposed the cut to deal with a budget shortfall, denounced the board’s intervention in an internal memo and threatened last week to resign early over the issue. Cortines said that reversing the cuts would have cost about $16.3 million.

In his Friday memo to the board, Cortines moved up his retirement to the end of 2010. He previously announced that he expected to leave in 2011, after working out a budget to address next year’s anticipated deficit.

In an interview, Cortines declined to address his vow to retire sooner.

“I’m not going to discuss that,” he said near the end of a wider-ranging interview.

On Tuesday, a 4-3 board majority sided with Cortines.

“We either trust this man to figure it out for us or we don’t,” board member Nury Martinez said. She cited various difficult cuts, including shortening the school year. “It’s a messed-up situation. We’ve done some really horrible things to kids and it’s not OK.”

The resolution at issue, sponsored by three board members, was to restore plant managers for the current school year, stating that they are “integral to keeping our schools safe, clean and secure during the school day.”

Plant managers oversee custodial and maintenance operations and handle a range of school emergencies, including broken tree limbs and water pipes as well as sewer leaks. They secure the campuses and deal with assorted other tasks.

A typical elementary school formerly had a plant manager and two maintenance workers. Under the latest staffing reduction, such a school has one building and grounds worker. A smaller number of plant managers will then oversee the cleaning of three to five schools after school hours.

The strategy, in essence, replaces some 240 higher-salaried managers with a larger number of lower-paid workers. This exchange is necessary after two consecutive years of 20% cuts in maintenance budgets if schools are to remain clean, said James Sohn, head of the district’s facilities division.

“Principals are very worried,” said Judith Perez, president of Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, which represents administrators. “We’ve been saying this is unwise and dangerous.”

Parents from seven schools also expressed concern at Tuesday afternoon’s board meeting.

Ivanhoe Elementary parent Alex Kapp Horner said that without the Silver Lake school’s plant manager, “we are putting our kids at risk.”

“We cannot ask our principal to do more,” she said, saying that parents rely on the plant manager “to be educated in emergency procedures, safety procedures and the general safety of our students.”

Board member Richard Vladovic, a former principal, said he meant no insult to Cortines, but “I can’t do justice right now to all the characteristics of a plant manager — you have to live it.”

He added: “It is difficult enough to be in a school today. Let’s not cut one of their lifelines.”

Cortines responded in a conciliatory manner.

“This is a very tough call,” he said.

howard.blume@latimes.com