Students Suffer From Board Miscalculations

I am a parent of two children at Darby Elementary School in Northridge, which has already complied with the school board’s requirement to increase our capacity by 23%.

As of September, 1990, three portable classrooms had been installed and additional teachers hired in anticipation of the 23% more students the board predicted we would receive. However, now that we are well into the school year and have received far fewer students than predicted, the board is planning to displace some of our beloved teachers, who have been with Darby for several years.

The entire school will be affected by the reorganization of classes. Many children, parents, and co-workers will suffer the loss of teachers who have become valuable assets to the Darby staff.

Since these teachers have contracts with LAUSD, their salaries are guaranteed through June, regardless of where they are placed. The board expects to “save” money by removing them from their assigned classrooms, in order to make them available to fill in as substitutes.

Ironically, at the same time the board intends to mandate another 106 schools to increase their capacity. Are these additional 106 schools going to get increased enrollment instead of Darby, where the money was already spent to accommodate more students? Or is the board planning to repeat their error at another 106 schools, by wasting more money on portable classrooms so they too can sit empty along with Darby’s?

Where are all the children the board continues to project, but haven’t materialized?

The board can find money in the budget if their own salaries are approved for an almost triple raise, yet they can’t find the money to keep our teachers where they belong. How many teachers salaries could be funded by the raise our school board is seeking, thereby indicating where their priorities really lie?

If our board cannot vote for the good of our children, then we need to vote them off the board.

RENEE LICHTER, Northridge