Schools’ Lottery Proceeds Spent on Bonuses, Books

Even as state lottery proceeds dwindle, San Gabriel Valley school systems have become instant winners with their share of the take, enabling them to give bonuses to teachers, pay for instructional programs and keep positions that otherwise might have been eliminated.

From Pomona to Pasadena, public school districts have become richer by amounts ranging from $110,147 to more than $3.8 million.

Although education’s share of the profits has dropped from $50 per pupil in the first payment in February to $35 per pupil in the third payment just announced, school officials have been able to do such things as:

Give teachers one-time bonuses of $1,000 in the Duarte Unified School District.

Pay for a special science program for elementary students in the South Pasadena school system.

Retain positions for secretaries, teacher aides and custodians that had been earmarked for elimination in the Claremont Unified School District.

Although thankful for the extra funds, school officials are concerned that lawmakers and the public may begin to assume that traditional school funding can be reduced. In fact, school officials said, the lottery money increases their yearly budgets by only about 2% to 4%.

“We are not ungrateful, but it is not our salvation either,” Stephen Hodgson, administrator of business services for the Temple City Unified School District, said of the $533,917 earmarked for his district.

Richard Angarola, deputy superintendent for administrative services for the Rowland Unified School District, worries that “in the first and second years, the lottery money will be a windfall but after that it will be built into everyone’s thinking when it comes to financing schools.”

Drop Was Expected

Under state law, 34% of the lottery’s proceeds must go toward elementary, secondary and higher education. School systems are to receive their share of the money once each quarter. Because the lottery started last October, districts got only three payments for fiscal 1985-86, and each payment was less than the one before.

Carl Burson, chief of field services for the state Department of Education’s local assistance bureau, said state officials assumed even before the lottery started that revenues would drop as the novelty faded. He said that Bill Honig, state superintendent of public instruction, had warned school districts to be cautious because revenues would fluctuate.

“The initial response in California was greater than we anticipated but the drop was also greater than anticipated,” said Bruce Peppin, superintendent of the Alhambra City and High School Districts.

John Schade, assistant director of public affairs for the Lottery Commission, said state officials hope to keep interest high by offering new types of games.

“We raised $689 million during the 1985-86 fiscal year,” Schade said. “The first payment was $272 million, the second was $225 million and the third was $192 million. That is not a whole lot of drop-off.

“We are happy with our success thus far and we think we can keep a good rate of sales,” he said.

Warning Heeded

Because no one can predict the amount of funding, Bruce Zentil, director of school financial services in the county Office of Education, warned that “districts can’t build lottery proceeds in as permanent sources of funding for long-term planning.”

San Gabriel Valley school districts have heeded that warning.

Giving bonuses to teachers and other school personnel and buying textbooks and equipment have been among the most popular uses of the funds.

Almost all of the districts gave bonuses after negotiating with teacher associations.

Teachers in some districts were very successful in negotiating bonuses, said Kelly Horner, a staff consultant for Region 3 of the California Teachers Assn. “Teachers in low salary districts shouldn’t have to apologize for wanting a bonus. We will pressure the districts.”

The bonuses for teachers ran from about $500 to just over $1,000.

Extra for Managers

In addition to teachers, other school employees got bonuses. The San Marino Unified School District, for example, gave non-teachers $500 bonuses. And management personnel in Duarte got bonuses of $1,100, $100 more than teachers and $700 more than non-teachers.

South Pasadena plans to use about $45,000 of its $430,000 to continue a special science program for elementary schools that has won a state education award.

Linda Bornheimer, the former teacher who had the idea for the program, has been hired as a consultant to administer the laboratory-oriented, hands-on project. In addition to developing lesson plans and working directly with students, Bornheimer will help teachers improve their laboratory skills.

South Pasadena also used some of its lottery money to hire a librarian and to purchase pamphlets that provide tips on what to do in case of an earthquake.

Class Size Relief

One of the school districts plans to use a portion of its $1-million funding in a plan to reduce class sizes.

John Miller, assistant superintendent for business services for the Bonita Unified School District, said he could not discuss specifics because the district is negotiating with teachers over how to implement such a plan.

“Half of that will go for class size relief and that may be additional teaching staff, it may be traveling teachers or it may be the same class size with an extra teacher,” Miller said. “Now we generally staff for 30 students per teacher,” he said of the district that has 8,900 students from San Dimas and La Verne in seven elementary schools, two intermediate schools and two high schools.

Horner, of the teachers association, said that using lottery funds to reduce class size is another of the things teachers will aim for in negotiations with school systems. “Teachers are not bargaining just for bonuses,” she said. “Teachers want the money (used) in the classroom.”

Like some other school systems, Bonita allowed officials in each of its schools to determine how some of the money would be used. Each school was allocated $15 per student. Officials at most of the schools chose to buy supplies, books and equipment, and make landscaping improvements.

Spent on Textbooks

In Duarte, the money not used for bonuses was allocated to each school on a per-pupil basis, with the principals deciding how the funds would be used. “Almost all chose to spend the money on textbooks,” said David Kanthak, assistant superintendent for business.

About 25% of the $ 3.8 million received by the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District, which serves Hacienda Heights, La Puente, Valinda and Industry, was divided among the schools. Principals were allowed to spend the money as they saw fit.

John Hyma, principal of Wilson High School in Hacienda Heights, chose to use the $39,000 his school received for equipment, but said he wished more money had been available to use for improving classroom instruction.

“The spirit of the lottery money should be to help teachers teach,” said Hyma, who consulted with teachers, parents and students before deciding how to spend the money. “But we had to buy duplicating machines for the teachers and computer software for our specialized programs.”

Good for Morale

Despite his dilemma, Hyma thinks letting the individual schools decide where some of the money should be spent is a good idea.

“It is good for teacher and staff morale,” he said. “The only negative is that we were deluged with requests. Everyone has a different idea of what we need.”

Part of the need in the San Marino Unified School District was to keep jobs that had been earmarked for eventual elimination. Although no one was to be fired, school officials were planning to eliminate the positions through attrition or to combine some of the duties. But some of the $356,244 San Marino has received from the lottery will postpone such decisions for at least a year.

Lottery money will be used to pay the salary of an assistant principal, the Career Center director, an administrator of the English as a Second Other Language program, a coordinator for a program for exceptionally bright or talented students, plus those of several consultants and custodians.

Jobs Retained

Like San Marino, the Claremont Unified School District is using much of its $751,515 to keep positions that would have been eliminated. The positions include jobs for secretaries, teacher aides and custodial positions, said Roland Fortson, business manager.

The Pasadena Unified School District spent part of its $2.7 million to add nurses and librarians, said Ray Monteroso, director of fiscal services.

Two school districts put their lottery money directly into their general funds.

“We don’t distinguish it from other sources of income to the district,” Hodgson said of the $533,917 earmarked for the Temple City Unified School District.

The Alhambra district, which also serves Monterey Park and San Gabriel, also is adding its $2.8 million directly to the budget, officials there said.

LOTTERY FUNDS FOR SAN GABRIEL VALLEY SCHOOLS, 1985-86

The allottment of lottery funds to each school district is determined by average daily attendance. The amount of each payment has fallen as lottery proceeds have declined. Because the lottery began in October, 1985, districts received only three quarterly payments this fiscal year, the first in February; the second in June, and the third this month.

First Payment Second Payment District ($50 per student*) ($41 per student*) Alhambra City and High $1,108,822 $917,224 Arcadia Unified 377,665 312,407 Azusa Unified 511,967 423,501 Baldwin Park Unified 833,783 689,710 Bassett Unified 310,616 256,943 Bonita Unified 449,630 371,957 Charter Oak Unified 306,562 253,589 Claremont Unified 296,679 245,415 Covina-Valley Unified 615,911 509,485 Duarte Unified 206,976 171,212 El Monte City 507,203 419,561 El Monte Union High 577,343 477,582 Garvey 361,549 299,076 Glendora Unified 299,365 247,637 Hacienda La Puente Unified 1,520,493 1,257,761 Monrovia Unified 292,017 241,558 Mt. View 385,926 319,240 Pasadena Unified 1,084,901 897,437 Pomona Unified 1,241,349 1,026,852 Rosemead 129,284 106,944 Rowland Unified School 921,307 762,111 San Gabriel 154,421 127,738 San Marino Unified 140,636 116,335 South Pasadena Unified 169,574 140,273 Temple City Unified 210,777 174,356 Valle Lindo 43,483 35,970 Walnut Valley Unified 451,303 373,321 West Covina Unified 424,392 351,060

Third Payment FY 1985-86 District ($35 per student*) Total Alhambra City and High $782,698 $2,808,744 Arcadia Unified 266,587 956,659 Azusa Unified 361,388 1,296,856 Baldwin Park Unified 588,553 2,111,946 Bassett Unified 219,258 785,817 Bonita Unified 317,386 1,138,973 Charter Oak Unified 216,397 776,548 Claremont Unified 209,421 751,515 Covina-Valley Unified 434,761 1,560,157 Duarte Unified 146,101 524,289 El Monte City 358,026 1,284,790 El Monte Union High 407,537 1,462,462 Garvey 255,211 915,836 Glendora Unified 211,317 758,319 Hacienda La Puente Unified 1,073,290 3,851,544 Monrovia Unified 206,129 739,704 Mt. View 272,419 977,585 Pasadena Unified 765,813 2,748,151 Pomona Unified 876,247 3,144,448 Rosemead 91,259 327,487 Rowland Unified School 650,334 2,333,752 San Gabriel 109,004 391,163 San Marino Unified 99,273 356,244 South Pasadena Unified 119,700 429,547 Temple City Unified 148,784 533,917 Valle Lindo 30,694 130,147 Walnut Valley Unified 318,567 1,143,191 West Covina Unified 299,571 1,075,023

*Rounded to lowest dollar., Los Angeles Times