HUNTINGTON BEACH : New Trustee Favors Teachers’ Positions

In a move that appears to favor the teachers’ union in its simmering contract feud, the Ocean View School District board has appointed a new member who shares several goals with teachers.

Elizabeth A. Spurlock, who was selected from among 12 candidates Tuesday to fill the vacancy created by Debra Leinweber’s resignation last month, said her main concerns include reducing class sizes, increasing spending and emphasizing individual school autonomy--all issues the teachers’ union have raised during its latest dispute with the district.

Spurlock, a 33-year-old attorney specializing in municipal-bond law, said Wednesday that her top priority is to limit the number of students in each classroom, but she also believes that parents and employees should be directly involved in the board of trustees’ budget decisions.

Spurlock said she plans to propose a “community budget committee” composed of parents that, along with teachers and district representatives, would advise the board throughout its annual money-allocation talks.

“As it is now, the board comes up with a proposal and asks (school advisory committee members) what they think of it,” Spurlock said. “I’d like to see the parents, staff and administration involved in the budget process from day one. The board would still make the final budget decisions, of course, but everyone would be involved every step of the way.”

Spurlock declined to comment specifically on the ongoing contract dispute but mildly criticized the board’s role in the matter. She said she strongly questions the trustees’ current proposal to dip into budget reserves to offer teachers pay raises, which she said “amounts to deficit spending.”

Spurlock added that she has “had trouble discerning exactly what their (budget) priorities are.”

Spurlock, the chairwoman of the Harbor View School Advisory Committee serving the school attended by her 6-year-old daughter, is scheduled to officially join the board at its next meeting on Tuesday.