School Overcrowding Is Top Hawthorne Issue

School overcrowding resulting from an unexpected increase in enrollment is the main concern of three incumbents and their single challenger in the contest for three seats on the Hawthorne School District Board of Trustees.

Elenore Escalante, a retired principal at Yukon Intermediate School, is the challenger in the Nov. 7 election. The incumbents are John D. Andersen, a sales representative for a bottled water company; Rosemarie Caldwell, an account clerk with the Centinela Valley Union High School District, and Leslie V. Smullen, a supervisor for the U.S. Postal Service in Hawthorne.

The candidates agree that the biggest challenge facing the district is severe overcrowding, with the district being forced to place 32 portable classrooms in playgrounds to accommodate its 6,140 students. Enrollment rose by 860 students in the past two years, with the number of students increasing 8% this fall and 6% in September, 1988, according to district officials.

The district had anticipated an annual increase of about 3%, and was caught off-guard by the unexpected increase since 1988, Caldwell said.

All four candidates support year-round schooling to respond to the growth, which Andersen and others attribute to an increase in apartment construction throughout the city.

All the candidates are longtime residents whose children attended Hawthorne public schools.

The district, with 260 teachers in seven elementary schools and two intermediate schools, has an annual budget of $18 million.

The three incumbents are running as a slate. They have pooled their campaign funds, which they say total about $1,500, and are distributing campaign posters and flyers that list their names together.

Escalante, who narrowly lost a bid for a board seat two years ago, said she is running to bring “new blood” onto the board. She is paying her own campaign expenses and declined to discuss how much she is spending.

The district plans to hold several hearings this school year to explain to the public the year-round system and to listen to parents’ concerns. Year-round schooling could begin next fall, Andersen said.

The district believes that year-round schooling would reduce by 25% the number of students in attendance at one time. Students would attend class for 60 days and then receive 20 days of vacation, he said. The 60/20 calendar has the same number of school days--180--and does not disrupt most regular holiday vacations.

The 220-member Hawthorne Elementary Teachers Assn. has endorsed the incumbents because they have shown a commitment to improving education and are willing to listen to teachers, said Mark Steffen, president.

Steffen said Escalante did not approach the teachers union to ask for its support in either of her campaigns.

Escalante taught for 10 years, was a vice principal for two and then was the principal at Yukon for 10 years until retiring in 1984. She has three children who graduated from Hawthorne schools. She believes that her background and experience can help her improve communications between parents, teachers and administrators in the district. Although she listed no specific criticisms of the district, she said the board needs a new member to question the status quo.

“I know the community and I want to be their liaison,” she said. “I feel that I will listen to the people (and) listen to what is going on in the community.”

Escalante said she has been a longtime supporter of year-round schools, but would like to get the input of parents before implementing the program.

Her husband, Michael, is a member of the Centinela Valley Union High School District Board of Trustees.

Andersen, who was appointed in 1978 to finish two years of the term left vacant by the death of his father, Lawrence, has lived all of his life in the city and has two sons who graduated from Hawthorne schools.

Andersen said the boost in attendance and an increasing number of teachers leaving the district for various reasons has created a teacher shortage. In many classrooms, temporary teachers and administrators are forced to conduct regular classes, he said.

“We’ve been able to make it but it isn’t a good situation,” he said, adding that district officials have been trying to recruit teachers from around the country.

Caldwell was appointed to the board in 1976 and went on to reelection three times. Her daughter and son are graduates of Hawthorne schools.

Caldwell said the district is in good financial shape and described communication between parents and administrators as good. She said she has talked to many parents and believes they support the year-round school proposal.

Smullen, who has lived in Hawthorne for 27 years and has five grown children who graduated from Hawthorne schools, was appointed to the board in April, 1981, and has been reelected twice.

The district’s next most serious problem is a shortage of bilingual teachers, he said, noting that the number of bilingual classes required in the district has doubled from 35 to 70 in the last year. Smullen said the district is trying to recruit Asian and Spanish-speaking bilingual teachers.

He said he would like the incumbents to be reelected because they have studied the year-round schooling system for two years and “know what we want.”