PLACENTIA : Trustees Restore 15 Teaching Jobs

Trustees of the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District decided Monday to reinstate elementary physical education and instrumental music programs after more funding became available from the state.

Board members voted to revise the district’s budget and refill 15 positions, restoring physical education teachers to elementary schools and some instrumental music programs to the fifth and sixth grades. Last week, trustees voted to rehire five high school counselors.

School officials say that the district will get about $500,000 more than originally budgeted because the recently passed state budget provides a slight increase in education funding. In addition, state lawmakers rejected the county’s plan to charge fees for property tax collection, saving the Placentia-Yorba Linda district an additional $350,000.

Although the district’s $92-million budget was passed in late June, school officials were uncertain of the amount of state funding they would receive because the state’s budget was still being debated.

District officials said they had to prepare for the worst and made $9 million in sweeping cuts, including eliminating nurses, counselors and psychologists, special education instructors and high school athletic directors.

Board members have been creating a list of programs that they would like to see reinstated as money becomes available. Parents, teachers and administrators submitted their own recommendations, giving priority to high school counselors and elementary physical education programs.

Board members decided that next in line for reinstatement are 15 English-as-a-second-language instructors and aides, followed by eight school nurses and 10 vocal music teachers.

Trustee Barbara S. Williams argued that vocal music instructors should be rehired first. Without them, classroom teachers would have to carry the load of teaching songs to elementary students, she said.

“This is such a challenging subject for a teacher to teach,” Williams said.

But other board members said instrumental music instruction is a more specialized subject and opted to reinstate it first.

School officials expect to know within the next month if the district will get more money from the state.

Board members last week voted to charge property owners assessment fees to pay for upkeep and improvement of public use of school recreational facilities. The maintenance assessment fees could offset $300,000 to $400,000 in the district’s operating budget, school officials said. But they added that they are reluctant to reallocate the money until any legal challenges to the fees are settled.

“We think that is a little risky because of the legal challenges that are coming up,” said district Supt. James O. Fleming. “We probably should wait until they shake out before we spend that money.”