EDUCATION : School Finances : Montebello to Lay Off 100 Teachers, 35 Office Staffers

After four nights of often emotional public testimony, the Montebello Unified School District Board of Education has approved an anemic 1991-92 budget that calls for laying off 135 employees, most of whom are teachers.

Assistant Supt. Walter Popkin said about 100 teachers with temporary contracts will lose their jobs on June 30. Temporary contract teachers are hired for one or two years to fill in for teachers on leave of absence. The district employs 161 contract teachers, nearly all of whom were originally expected to be laid off. However, the board now expects to save the jobs of at least 60 temporary contract teachers through attrition and an early retirement incentive program. In addition to temporary contract teachers, about 35 employees, mostly clerical workers, also will lose their jobs.

Board members, responding to pleas from employees, students and parents, restored three of nine nursing positions and three of eight high school counseling positions they had planned to eliminate. To balance its budget, however, the board eliminated all recreational programs and building improvements, further reduced classroom supplies, and raised the summer school class size. All librarian jobs were eliminated, and the district’s only doctor will be laid off.

Reductions in state funding forced the district to cut $19 million from its $135-million budget. Board members have said the cuts are the most severe in the district’s history and will mean that Montebello students will receive a lower quality of instruction.