School Districts’ Cuts Draw Protest : Education: Hundreds show up in Santa Ana and Huntington Beach to urge trustees to reconsider severe budget reductions.

Hundreds of angry parents, teachers and students turned out Tuesday night at meetings in Santa Ana and Huntington Beach to protest what school officials described as the most severe budget cuts in the history of their school districts.

About 250 people crowded the boardroom of the Santa Ana Unified School District, where trustees approved a recommendation to slash $9 million from the district’s budget.

In Huntington Beach, about 200 people crowded the boardroom at Huntington Beach Union High School District to urge trustees to hold off on a recommendation to slice $3.1 million. Trustees debated the budget in closed session late into the night.

The actions by both districts will pave the way for dozens of teachers and administrative employees to be laid off and for once-prestigious courses to be eliminated from the curriculum.

Officials of the two school boards insist they have little choice, saying reduced state funds for education would force them to take drastic action.

In Santa Ana, speaker after speaker urged the trustees to refrain from cutting staff and programs.

Joseph Ornelas, a junior at Saddleback High School, said, “I’ve always been told that education is No. 1, but obviously it’s not. Why are we given this false” information?

Esparanza Madrid, a mother of a 5-year-old student, said: “This is America. Our teachers should be treated better and our students should be given the best.”

Kristi Lance, a teacher at Santiago Elementary School, said, “The budget continues to be balanced on the backs of those with the lowest income. Once again teachers are asked to take pay cuts under the guise of a pay freeze.”

The Santa Ana Unified School District Board of Trustees approved reductions in bilingual instruction aides and other staff, school maintenance and insurance benefits for employees.

Following district administration recommendations, the board also decided:

* To negotiate a cap on insurance benefits for employees, for a savings of $2.4 million.

* Not to replace about 50 bilingual instructional aides who are expected to leave the district this year, saving $150,000.

* To eliminate four clerical positions at the district office, saving $100,000.

The board also approved the elimination of intermediate school academic competitions and to cut the 10-week athletic seasons of all intermediate school sports by half. Other cuts included $250,000 in supplies and travel for special education and $300,000 from the district transportation budget.

“Nine million dollars is really cutting into the bone of what we’re trying to accomplish with education,” Supt. Rudy M. Castruita said before the meeting. “I’m deeply saddened that we in the field of education have to make these kinds of cuts that affect not only teachers and classified employees but students as well.”

Board member Rosemarie Avila agreed. “I think the last $20 million have already hurt the district,” she said. “But we’ve been real careful not to cut a lot of personnel in these difficult times and we try not to cut any of the programs that affect students directly.”

In Huntington Beach, about 14 speakers urged district trustees to exercise restraint in cutting the budget. Some called for the district to reduce the number of administrators, while others called for teachers to take a salary cut to spare jobs and school programs.

“If we have the chance to save 50 jobs by taking a small salary cut across the board, I don’t know why that is not being considered,” said parent Jim Ball.

Another parent, Cliff Hall, said the cuts should not affect key educational programs and support services.

“We’re well on our way to making the district an inner-city school district, although we’re on the edge of the beach,” Hall said.

School employees who may lose their jobs due to the cuts continued to defend their positions Tuesday.

Karen Wisniewski, a psychologist at Ocean View High School, told board members that eliminating psychologists will lead to an increase in gangs, drug abuse and other problems.

“This shortsighted thinking will result in a buildup of social ills that will come back to haunt this school district,” she said.

Rob Teitelbaum, an Edison High freshman, also spoke out against the cuts. “I sympathize with everyone else’s concerns,” he said, “but the students should get first priority. After all, we’re the ones who are getting educated.”

Furor over budget cuts has become an annual ritual in the Huntington Beach Union High School District, which has slashed its annual budget by $17.6 million during the past six years.

Supt. David Hagen has recommended that 54 positions be cut to help bridge a $3.1-million deficit for the 1992-93 school year.