Parents Protest Lynwood School Conditions

A dozen parents picketed Lynwood schools and the superintendent’s office this week to complain about overcrowded classes, lack of teachers and dirty campuses.

One of the protesting parents, Earnie Growe, said her child’s class had been without a regular teacher after the first day of school on Sept. 11. Growe said she helped supervise her daughter’s class at Abbott Elementary School after the teacher departed.

Growe also claimed that the classroom, which has 39 students, was overcrowded. Another parent, Cynthia Green-Geter, a school board candidate, said as many as 60 students were in one class at Lynwood High School.

Other parents complained that the grass has not been cut at an elementary school, making it unsafe for smaller children to play. They also claimed there was no hot water for showers in the high school gym, that bathrooms were dirty and bathroom stalls lacked doors.

“Things are not getting better, they are getting worse,” said Diane Becker, one of the marchers. Becker is the president of the Lynwood PTA.

School officials said they have either corrected the deficiencies or are making corrections. “For the most part (the parents’ concerns) have been taken care of,” Supt. LaVoneia Steele said.

Louis Byrd, principal of Abbott School, acknowledged that the regular teacher in a class of academically gifted fifth- and sixth-graders departed after the first day of school, apparently to accept a non-teaching job in another state.

A substitute teacher has been hired for the classroom and will work on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays while completing requirements for a teaching credential, Byrd said. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the students will be taught by resource teachers who usually are involved with curriculum development and testing, he said.

He also acknowledged that Growe had joined the resource teachers and a couple of teacher aides in helping supervise the class.

At Lynwood High School, Principal Mickey Cureton said overcrowded classes were to be expected during the first week of school, but that “classes have now been balanced.” Class size now ranges from 28 to 37 students, he said.

At least two classes had more than 50 students in the first week and there were as many as 40 students in other classes, he said.

He pointed out enrollment is 2,950 at the 30-year-old school, which was built to accommodate 1,000 students.

State officials recently fined the school district $360,000 for consistently violating the state’s limit on class sizes during the 1988-89 school year. State officials also found that the district allowed students from different grades to be placed in the same classes, rather than hiring additional teachers and substitutes.

Would Prevent Overcrowding

Jewel Lee, assistant superintendent for personnel, said the district still is attempting to fill 17 teacher positions this year to relieve overcrowding and prevent further fines.

Steele said that before opening day, she toured the district campuses and found schools generally were clean, even “sparkling in many instances.” School board members, other elected officials and teachers union representatives accompanied her, Steele said.

Board member Thelma Williams said the high school water system has frequent breakdowns, but that the high school gym now has hot water. Bathroom stall doors, which apparently were removed years ago for security reasons, also are being restored, she said.

On Monday, the demonstrators picketed at Mark Twain Elementary School, Hosler Junior High School and Lynwood High School before marching to district headquarters to demand a meeting with with the superintendent.

Steele came out of the building and met briefly with the parents, but refused to discuss their concerns, saying she was interviewing an applicant for a teaching position. She also refused to take a leaflet listing the group’s demands for smaller classes and cleaner campuses.

Steele questioned whether the demonstration was politically motivated because two candidates for the Lynwood Unified School District Board of Education were participating.

The candidates, Green-Geter and Margaret Araujo, said they were marching because they were concerned parents.