SIMI VALLEY : School District to Hire 24 Teachers

In an effort to reduce class size and allow instructors time to counsel students, the Simi Valley Unified School District will add 24 teachers for 1991-92, officials said Thursday.

Sixteen of the new teachers will be used to ease classroom crowding in the district’s four junior high schools and two high schools. The remaining eight will take over for other secondary teachers who will counsel students during the school day.

A total of $1.2 million of the district’s $2.9-million insurance reserve fund will be used to cover the new teachers’ salaries and benefits. Supt. Robert Purvis said the account had accumulated more money than had been recently recommended by a district consultant. The district’s 1991-92 budget has a $4-million shortfall that will be made up with reserve lottery funds.

Royal and Simi Valley high schools will receive four new teachers each, while the junior high schools--Hillside, Sequoia, Sinaloa and Valley View--will each receive two.

The staffing increases will help make up for the 28 teachers who were cut from the budget last year and may keep most secondary-level classes at fewer than 36 students, said Bill Davenport, president of the Simi Educators Assn. The other eight new teachers, who will relieve other teachers for counseling duties, will be divided among the secondary schools, with two teachers to be hired for each high school and one teacher for each junior high school.