Budget Shifts Save 33 Jobs in Orange School District

The Orange Unified School District board has voted to restore a major portion of previously announced program cuts that had threatened the layoff of 51 teachers and other white-collar employees. The district now expects to cut no more than 18 jobs.

The unanimous decision, reached shortly before midnight Thursday, followed back-to-back preliminary budget hearings.

Board of Education member William Steiner initiated the reinstatement of educational programs chosen for cuts. He called the action “a major, major restoration of educational services.” The 33 employees no longer subject to layoff are involved in those services.

The remaining 18 positions are directly tied to Peralta Junior High School and four elementary schools, all slated to be closed at the end of the school year.

Last month, in anticipation of a $2-million deficit in its 1985-86 budget, the district decided to slash a number of programs and sent layoff notices to 109 teachers, principals, librarians and other white-collar workers.

In the interim, however, the district’s economic forecast improved dramatically. Its 1985-86 reserves and surplus funds are now estimated at $3.5 million, including an expected savings of $500,000 from the closing of Panorama, Riverdale, Jordan and Villa Park elementary schools.

Wednesday night, at the first of the two budget hearings, Supt. Kenneth Brummel called for restoring more than $700,000 to the programs, halving the number of layoffs to 25, but the board took no action.

Also at that meeting, Wilma Wittman, president of the Orange Unified Education Assn., urged the board to restore all the programs and retain all 51 employees to “demonstrate to students, parents, staff and patrons that we are committed to (an educational) standard that we will not allow to erode.”

On Friday, Wittman hailed the move to restore some of the programs, calling the board action “a good first step.”

“I am extremely pleased that the board listened to what we were saying, and recognized the need to retain quality educational programs.” But, she continued, “we wish (the move) applied to all the positions. We would still like to see all the programs restored.”

Layoff Hearing Still on

Wittman said she wished that a layoff hearing scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Monday in the Orange City Council chambers “could have been canceled altogether.”

The affected personnel include reading teachers, counselors, a student-activities director, a school-and-community administrator, a staff development specialist and special assistants to junior high schools for noon supervision and coordination of student activities.

The restored programs include media-library services, language arts and social sciences, elementary school vocal music and special assistance to schools with bilingual students.

Reinstating the programs will cost $905,600, all of which “can come from reserve and other contingency funds, which, at this point, are $3,493,873,” Steiner said.

“The intent of the motion is to reassure the community that educational programs can be retained, and that this is not predicated on school closure,” the motion passed by the board said.

Antidote for Polarization

“Hopefully, (the move) will help to defuse a situation where one part of the community is aligned against another part of the community,” Steiner added, referring to the controversy over closing the four elementary schools.

David Parker, a Villa Park father of six, praised the board action. He said the district is financially able to reinstate all the programs, to give teachers “salary increases instead of layoffs,” and to avoid closing elementary schools. A leader of the effort to keep the schools open, Parker said he was encouraged that the motion passed by the board stated that the reinstatements were not conditional on the closing of schools.

“The door is now open for the reconsideration of school closures, (since) the monies available to the district are more exhaustive than (district officials) had realized,” Parker said.