Faculty Cuts, Larger Classes Under Study in West Covina

School officials, already under fire for closing four schools, are faced with more controversy as they pursue proposals to lay off teachers and staff members and increase class sizes.

By early next week, about 50 junior high school and high school teachers, psychologists, counselors, nurses and student advisers will receive notices of possible layoffs next September as a result of the school closure plan approved last month.

The school district and the teachers association are already gearing up for what could be a bitter contract dispute over proposals for further staff cuts and an increase in class sizes.

At the same time, a group of parents whose children attend Edgewood High School are demanding an explanation for the administration’s recommendation to close Edgewood and retain West Covina High as the district’s only high school.

Discussion Tonight

The group, which has strongly protested the school board’s adoption of that recommendation, is scheduled to discuss the decision with administrators tonight.

“All the worst is happening now,” said Supt. Jane D. Gawronski. “This year is the worst in terms of the decisions being made that will affect this district for some time.”

Difficult decisions involving school closures and program cuts became necessary after a deficit in the 1986-87 school year forced the district to borrow $3.3 million from the state. Next year, the district must repay $1.5 million on the loan and cut an additional $2.7 million to balance the budget.

On Feb. 18, the board voted to close Edgewood High, Hollencrest and Willowood junior high schools and Cortez Elementary School. The decision ended a month of emotional debate but, by targeting Edgewood for closure, started a new controversy. The board is still considering closing one of two other elementary schools, California and Wescove.

Staff Attrition

In accordance with the state Education Code, the 50 secondary school teachers, psychologists, counselors, nurses and advisers will be notified that their jobs may be cut next September. But because of early retirements and staff attrition, the actual number of layoffs will probably be less than 25, according to Bob Read, director of personnel services.

“My prediction will be 25 maximum,” he said.

No layoffs will be needed at the elementary level, serving kindergarten through sixth grade, Read said.

Layoffs at the secondary level are needed because of duplication in positions caused by the school closures. In addition, the high schools are over-staffed by up to 16 teachers, Read said.

Of the 325 teachers in the district, 141 teach grades seven through 12. Laying off 25 teachers would reduce the secondary teaching force by one-sixth.

Where applicable, the layoffs will be based on seniority, a system which, under the Education Code, allows older teachers to “bump” newer ones if they are qualified to teach a different class, Read said.

“Let’s say the district needs to cut three English teachers,” he said. “You’re going to take the last three hired.”

In that case, a science teacher with seniority who is qualified to teach English can replace an English teacher with less seniority, Read said, but a science teacher who is not qualified to teach English cannot.

In cases where teachers were hired on the same day, lots will be drawn.

“It’s the rule of last hired, first fired,” Gawronski said. “It’s unfortunate because you lose all the newer teachers.”

Early Retirement

Twenty-four teachers have accepted an early retirement plan approved by the board last month. Read said he hopes that more of the 85 teachers who are 55 or older and qualify to retire early will do so, thereby reducing the number of layoffs.

“When there are staff reductions involved, it always complicates things,” he said. “Reducing staff is something that you don’t ever want to do.”

Thus far, the district has reduced its administrative staff by eight with the early retirement of four principals and four managers, Read said.

Beverly Hine, president of the Teachers Assn. of West Covina, said the layoffs, although painful, are not unexpected. Teachers supported closing some schools even though they realized that some layoffs would be necessary, she said.

Disagree Sharply

“We felt that it wouldn’t be that great a pill to swallow,” Hine said.

But the teachers and district officials disagree sharply over a proposal to increase class sizes next year as another means of balancing the budget.

Administrators have said they would like to increase class sizes in grades four through 12--now one teacher per 31 pupils--by one or two students. An increase in the primary grades, first through third, is precluded because the district has already reached the 30-1 ratio allowed by state law.

The teacher-student ratio is one of the issues expected to come up in negotiations for a contract to replace the one that expires June 30.

“That will make the negotiating process intense,” Gawronski said.

The teachers association has already lodged a grievance with the district about class sizes at the elementary schools, Hine said.

‘Overcrowded Now’

“What they’re going to try to do is raise class size when we are overcrowded now,” she said. “California is already 50th in the nation in class size, and a proposal is being made to make ours bigger. . . .

“If they are going to raise it even further, that is an untenable position, and we will not negotiate on that.”

The teachers claim that class sizes in kindergarten and grades four through six already violate the existing contract and hinder education. The contract allows a student-teacher ratio of 31-1. School officials said 52 more elementary students enrolled than were expected.

“It’s an embarrassment to work for this district,” Hine said.

An increase of two students per class in all but the primary grades could save the district $500,000 because fewer teachers would be needed, Read estimated. The administration has argued that because 85% of the district’s $25-million budget goes toward personnel, that is where reductions can be made without cutting programs.

“Just raising it one or two will make a difference” for next year, Gawronski said. “We are limited in the ways that we can balance the budget.”

Gawronski said class sizes must rise to avoid any program cuts.

“If we don’t get some concessions, we’ll have to cut into programs,” she said. “I’d rather see the class size lowered, but I have to take a firm stance on this issue.”

Larger classes, Hine said, have the effect of curtailing the curriculum because the teachers cannot cater to as many students.

‘Already Cuts’

“By putting that many kids in a class, there are already program cuts,” she said.

Hine charged that the district is using the financial crisis to wring concessions from the teachers.

“You don’t stop educating children because they (administrators) are in a bind,” she said. “It isn’t the students’ or the teachers’ fault we’re in this mess.”

Hine said teachers will ask for a one-year contract with the likelihood of little or no salary increase. But the teachers will stand firm on class size, she said.

“We may have to forgo a salary increase, but we are not going to forgo educating children,” Hine said.

In a separate dispute with the administration, the teachers association will sue the district for breach of contract over a pay increase that was denied this year, Hine said.

‘Right in Contract’

Under the current contract, teachers were supposed to receive a 4.5% increase, but the administration approved only a 3% jump, Hine said.

“They are saying that the language of the contract is ambiguous and unclear,” she said. “We put it right in the contract that we would take it to court.”

Meanwhile, many parents remain opposed to the district’s decision to close Edgewood High and convert it into a middle school for grades six through eight. They argue that the administration and school board should have followed the School Use Planning Committee’s recommendation to convert West Covina High into the middle school.

Sherrie Berillon, one of the group’s leaders, said Gawronski presented misleading figures to the board about the capacities of the two schools and the costs of operating them. Those figures differed from others that were used by the committee and presented at a series of town hall meetings to discuss the recommendations.

‘Don’t Like Deception’

“We feel the wrong site was chosen for the wrong reasons,” Berillon said. “The point is, we don’t like the deception that went on in this district, the charade of town hall meetings and public input. . . . Anyone who was at the meeting (where the decision was made) and didn’t feel used and that politics had taken over . . . well, there wasn’t anyone.”

Gawronski said her recommendation to the board was based primarily on the greater capacity of the West Covina High campus, adding that both sites are in the same physical condition. Parents argue that the difference in capacity is negligible and that Edgewood is in superior condition.

The superintendent has said that the capacity of West Covina High is larger than was suggested by the committee’s report. She said she would try to explain the difference to the group’s leaders at the meeting tonight.

“We’re giving the administration an opportunity to work with us and prove their point,” Berillon said. “We want to work with them. If they can prove to me that West Covina is the better high school campus, I will go public and say that.”