1,000 Wait in Line for Job Training Classes

More than 1,000 people waited up to six hours Monday to sign up for tuition-free job training classes, a reflection of the dire economy and state cuts in the education budget.

Officials with the North Orange County Regional Occupation Program--the largest of four such state-sponsored programs in the county--said the demand for classes was the greatest in the two years since the recession began.

“It’s the economy,” said Patricia G. Hansmeyer, a spokeswoman for the program. “People are out of work, or they want to update their skills to keep their job.”

Classes to provide training in medical fields--such as nursing and medical technology--drew the longest lines. In fact, for the first time, registration for medical classes was separated from the remainder of the courses because of the high demand.

By 4 a.m., more than three dozen people had queued up to make sure they got a spot in some classes, which have limited enrollments because of state caps on class sizes. For example, only about 130 people will be able to take a nursing assistant certification class because of guidelines restricting its size to no more than 15 students per instructor. Several nursing assistant courses were full by noon.

“This time I made sure that I was first in line,” said Gorge Ventura, 31, who camped out beginning Sunday night because he failed to get into the certified nursing assistant class when it was offered earlier this summer. “I got here at 11 p.m., and by 11:15 there were five more people waiting.”

Ventura, like the others who waited, said he is seeking skilled training in medicine because the opportunity for advancement is better. He said that he might pursue a career as a registered nurse after working in the field for a few years.

Program officials estimated that as many as 1,500 people will have signed up for all of the classes when Monday’s enrollments are tallied. Large crowds also were expected today.

“There are jobs out there,” said William Depew, the occupation program’s director of business services. “They are going to do whatever they need to, to get them.”

Many in the line had been laid off and eventually determined a need for training to get an equal or better job.

“I’m looking to better myself and get better pay,” said Gabriela Hillhouse, 29, of Anaheim, who waited to enroll in a medical office administrator training course. “I figured that now, since I have the time, I’m going to do it.”

Hillhouse was laid off from her job as a container freight inspector at the Port of Long Beach in February.

Nearing the end of her fourth hour in line, Hillhouse said: “I’m starving, I’m hungry, I’m hot.”

Standing nearby, Tammy Rossiter, 29, waited with her 5-year-old son, Adam, so she could get into the same class. She has three other children, and her former job as a phone solicitor was too shaky because it paid on commission.

“I need more security for the kids,” said Rossiter, who lives in Anaheim and collects Aid to Families With Dependent Children. “This is an entrance into the medical field. You can always better yourself and improve yourself.”

Classes in other trades--such as computers, auto mechanics and printing--were also popular.

Naomi Johnson, 49, of Fullerton, hoped to sign up for a photography class and a floral arranging class. She has done temporary work since she moved from Madison, Wis., where her manufacturing job at a mini-blind factory was phased out a year ago.

“I tried to find a factory job out here,” she said. “But out here, it’s more service jobs than factory work, so I need to get re-educated.”

State funding for the Regional Occupation Program has been strained. During the 1991-92 year, the program had about 29,000 students and the state funded $12.3 million--or 87%--of the corresponding costs, Depew said. To enroll the extra students, class sizes were increased where possible. And 15% of the summer offering was trimmed.

And if Monday’s turnout is any indication, program officials will face a similar predicament. They based the number of classes on last year’s funding level, which may be cut by lawmakers, who are still deadlocked over the state budget.

Maziar Montaghani, 26, who checks eligibility requirements for the Orange County Social Services Department, arrived at 7 a.m. to sign up for a emergency medical technician class. He tried to take a similar summer course at Rancho Santiago College in Santa Ana, to no avail. Then he tried Mt. San Antonio Community College in Walnut and ran into similar roadblocks.

“I was trying to get into a handicraft course, baby-sitting, anything, just so I could be in the college and register early the next time it was offered,” he said. “But all of those classes were full too.”