End to School Impasse Urged

About 300 angry parents, students and teachers packed a Tustin Unified School District board meeting Tuesday night to protest stalled teacher contract negotiations that recently led to a teacher boycott of homework assignments.

“Imagine my concern when my 7-year-old first-grader came home and told me he was no longer going to be receiving his assignments because his teacher could not get along with other adults,” said Kevin Kragenbrink.

So many people turned out for the meeting that the fire marshal asked the board to order the doorways and aisles cleared before the meeting could proceed.

“It’s ridiculous and it’s sad and pathetic that this situation has made enemies of the parties involved when basically we’re all here for one unified purpose and that’s education,” said Andrea Gazzaniga, 17, a junior at Foothill High School.

The audience demanded that the board and the teachers union set up a meeting date for contract negotiations. Joyce Rohrbaugh, president of the Tustin Educators Assn., said the two sides last met last week and were just $48,000 apart on the total cost of the contract when negotiations broke off.

Board President Gloria Tuchman said the board would try to schedule a negotiation session with the union this week.

“We all appreciate what you’re saying,” Tuchman said. “We’re not insensitive.”

Later Tuchman put the teachers on notice that the board considers their boycott of homework assignments and open houses an unfair labor practice.

“Teachers are required by contract, practice and school homework policies to render these services,” Tuchman said.

Teachers in the 15-school district have been working without a contract for 10 months. In April, the teachers union voted in favor of a number of work slowdown tactics, including an end to homework assignments until a contract agreement was reached.

Greg Amrofell, 17, a junior at Foothill High School, presented the board with a letter signed by 500 students urging both sides to quickly resolve their differences. Morgan Lang, an 8th-grader from Hewes Middle School, presented the board with similar petition with 400 signatures.

About 1,000 Foothill High School students staged a demonstration last week to protest the no-homework policy. Some 110 students who participated received letters of discipline and were placed on probation for the remainder of the school year for failing to return to class on time.

Bob Mossard, whose granddaughter was among those put on probation, asked the board to remove the letters of discipline from the students’ files.

Tuchman said the board is prohibited from discussing the disciplinary action in public but will take up the issue in a closed session.