Beverly Hills : Superintendent Approved

Judy McIntire, president of the Beverly Hills Education Assn., said Tuesday that she welcomed the appointment of Sol Levine as superintendent of the Beverly Hills Unified School District.

“Our aim is to have the administration as partners in education, and I feel this is the direction we are heading,” McIntire said.

Levine, previously assistant superintendent in charge of curriculum and before that principal of Beverly Hills High School for 13 years, was named to the district’s top job last week.

McIntire, whose group represents 275 teachers and about 100 classified employees, said Levine’s long experience with the district would help him guide it through a period of budget austerity.

Although 41 teaching positions have been cut, a combination of retirement, leaves and resignations has resulted in only four teachers losing their jobs, she said.

The cutbacks resulted in the loss of half the district’s teaching assistants, McIntire said.

But they will not result in violations of the contract-mandated class-size limit of 28 students, or the weekly teaching load of 1,350 minutes, she said.