School Board Calls Meetings to Cut Budget by $2 Million

Faced with budget problems, the Torrance school board has hastily called special meetings for Monday and Tuesday to carve as much as $2 million from next year’s budget.

The board will consider proposals to abolish up to 24 classroom teachers’ jobs, eliminate some counseling posts, whittle sports programs and make other reductions in school programs in an effort to reduce spending.

The proposals, unveiled by the school administration late last week, immediately drew a stinging rebuke from the Torrance Teachers Assn., which questioned why the Torrance Unified School District had waited until after March 1 to announce the plan.

March 1 is the deadline for sending notices to administrators informing them that they may be laid off in the next year; the deadline for notifying teachers is March 15.

Teachers Assn. Executive Director William A. Franchini called the timing of the proposals “rather unusual,” saying it discouraged the elimination of administrative jobs. Said Franchini: “Teachers are incensed about the timing of this, whether intentional or not.”

Asked about the union’s concerns, Supt. Edward Richardson pointed out that the district’s budget proposals call for freezing two administration vacancies.

He also said the district did not intentionally delay announcing the proposed cuts in its preliminary $86-million budget for 1992-93. Instead, he said, district officials were acting on recent warnings from county and state schools officials that state cost-of-living payments to the district may be less than expected.

“We (have) more information now than we had just a few days ago,” he said.

School Board member David Sargent said many of the proposed cuts were approved by the board last year and then reversed when more funds materialized. That scenario could repeat itself this year, he said.

Among other things, the board proposals would:

* Cut up to 17 high school teaching posts and up to seven seventh- and eighth-grade teaching positions.

* Abolish the jobs of two librarians, three elementary music teachers, four custodians, four high-school counselors and one school psychologist, among others.

* Pare some high school sports activities.

* Cut middle school transportation.

The proposed cuts, totaling $2,036,000, will be discussed at meetings at 7:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at the district board room, 2336 Plaza del Amo.