Schools to Close 2 Magnet Programs Despite Objections; Others Added

San Diego city school trustees approved a series of changes in their integration programs Tuesday but lost ground in their two-week attempt to trim next year’s school budget.

The district saved nearly $300,000 by closing “fundamental skill” magnet programs at Rolando Park and Foster elementary schools over the opposition of parents, but added several other programs that will cost the district more money.

After two weeks of additions and deletions, the 1987-88 budget has been reduced by about $2.7 million, said Henry Hurley, director of budgets and cost controls. On Jan. 20, the trustees cut about $3.6 million from the budget but delayed votes on costly program changes until Tuesday.

District finance officials have said that they must find about $8 million more in budget cuts if they are to present a balanced 1987-88 budget, as required by law. In addition, they face the prospect of negotiating 1987-88 pay increases for all 13,000 school system employees. A 1% pay increase for all employees would cost the district about $3.3 million, Hurley said.

Tuesday’s vote to end the fundamental-skill magnet programs at the two elementary schools came after three consecutive weeks of protest from parents who said the program has improved test scores and helped integrate the schools. Magnet programs are designed to integrate the school system by attracting students from outside the school neighborhood who are interested in the special courses offered.

While Foster and Rolando Park will retain the “fundamental skill” name, they will lose funding for teachers and aides who helped to run those programs.

Cathryn McKay, a parent who fought the closure of the program at Rolando Park, complained about what she called “a lot of double talk from Mr. (George) Frey,” who directs the district’s integration programs. “He’s going to give us this and he’s going to give us that. . . . It was simply a pacification to us. They had made up their minds a long time ago.” In fact, trustees voted unanimously Tuesday to close the magnet programs before hearing a third week of testimony from parents. When they realized that two people wanted to speak about the issue, they rescinded the vote, heard the testimony and then approved the measure unanimously a second time.

Additional programs approved Tuesday included a new Literary Arts and Reading Academy program at Logan Elementary School that will cost an additional $412,000; an expansion of the Spanish-language magnet program at Horton Elementary School that will cost $138,000, and a new focus on space exploration and technology at Johnson Academic Academy, which will cost about $141,000.

In other business, the trustees debated exempting some developers from newly established fees on residential, commercial and industrial construction, but delayed a vote on the issue for one week. At issue is the amount of revenue the school district will collect this year under the fee schedule allowed by new state laws, and how much it will lose by allowing some exemptions.

For the third consecutive week, various developers told the trustees that exemptions should be allowed for senior-citizen housing and for developers who had applied for building permits before the Jan. 6 adoption of the new fee schedule.

A recommendation from the district staff suggested allowing exemptions only for those developers who had applied for building permits before Sept. 18, when Gov. George Deukmejian signed the measure into law, and allowing others to stretch fee payments over three years.