Whittier’s School Budget Shaken After Earthquake

The Whittier City School District, which serves the area hardest hit by the Oct. 1 earthquake, lost more than 150 students after the temblor, forcing the district to consider cutting programs and teaching staff unless the state steps in to help.

“Many of the youngsters just disappeared. They didn’t get transfers,” said Neil Avery, superintendent of the Whittier City district that includes the Uptown Village business sector.

School officials believe that the enrollment drop was caused by a combination of fear and extensive damage to housing in the predominantly Latino district, where 342 residential buildings were declared unsafe after the earthquake.

Avery recalled that in October, it took weeks before people gave up living in a park near his office. “They were definitely frightened. Family after family was packing everything they had,” he said.

‘Down We Went’

“We’re having difficulty documenting they actually left because of the earthquake,” Avery said, “but boom! In one month’s period, down we went.” The district, whose 5,700 students are 67% Latino and 30% Anglo, had grown by more than 100 students in the last five years, he said.

The Whittier City district, which sustained $611,000 in earthquake damage to its 14 schools, also was the only district to close an entire school because of the temblor. The district is now busing the 307 students who attended Lincoln Elementary School to another site. Lincoln is being repaired and will reopen in the fall.

In the last few months, Avery said the district’s enrollment has picked up by about 40 students, but officials have been unable to find out how many are returned earthquake refugees.

“Right after the earthquake, many people moved out to grandpa and grandma’s house in a nearby town, lived there, then came back” to the area, Avery said. “I suspect some may still be living outside the district and are driven in.”

Regardless, the post-earthquake drop reduced the district’s enrollment projections as well as average daily attendance--the number on which state funding is based. The result is a $214,000 budget shortfall.

District officials want the state Legislature to give them that amount out of the $87 million in earthquake relief lawmakers approved late last year. However, Mila Corral, a Whittier City district board member, fears that a bill pending in the Legislature to answer the district’s plea will become a victim of legislative politics.

Assemblyman Charles Calderon (D-Alhambra) agreed to carry the bill, but Corral is worried that the bill will die because Calderon is bickering with Assembly Speaker Willie Brown.

Calderon is one of the so-called “gang of five” dissidents whose refusal to vote with the Speaker on some key issues has resulted in a loss of committee assignments and other political perks. Calderon did not return calls seeking comment.

‘Personal Vendetta’ Feared

“I’m hoping it won’t become a personal vendetta,” Corral said.

A hearing for the bill has been scheduled for April 12. The measure is an urgency bill, meaning that it would take effect as soon as it was approved and signed by the governor.

If the district’s appeal for state funding fails, the actual loss will be closer to $500,000 because the $214,000 from this year will have to be replaced in both this year’s and next year’s budget, said Connie Fong, the district’s business manager.

“It’s major,” Corral said. “If we lose (our state funding request), we’re going to have to lose teachers or programs.”

About 85% of the district’s $20-million budget goes to salaries, Avery said.

The board already has notified parents whose children receive special reading counseling that the $77,000 program may be cut next year, Corral said. Avery said the shortfall may also cause an increase in class sizes.