District’s Use of Student Labor During Class Hours Is Decried

The Bonita Unified School District is investigating teachers’ complaints that the principal of Chaparral Continuation High School pulled students from class over a period of several days to fold letters, stuff them into envelopes and apply address labels.

The request for an investigation was made by the Bonita Unified Teachers Assn. at the district’s March 22 board meeting. Two Chaparral teachers had complained that the high school’s principal, Dennis King, had students doing menial office labor during time they should have been in class, catching up on academic instruction they already were behind in.

King maintains that clerical work by students is part of a voluntary community service effort. But some teachers at Chaparral, a small continuation school in San Dimas of about 185 students who are behind in course credits, say the school is using the students for free labor rather than helping them catch up in academics.

Debbie Boyles, an English teacher at Chaparral, said King walked into her first-period class on Feb. 6 and told her he needed students to help out at the district office next to the school.

“I asked if I could go with them and he (King) said, ‘If you want to,’ ” Boyles said. “When I saw that students were stuffing envelopes, I was really ticked off. This was my class time.”

For four days following, Boyles said, King called her on the phone and told her he needed more helpers. She complied.

King denies ordering the students to help with the menial task, insisting that they volunteered. He said the district has been asking students to help with their mailings for several years because it’s a laborious task that district secretaries don’t have time for.

“There is nothing wrong with having students help out,” King said. “This experience gives them valuable work skills they might one day be called upon to use. And it’s important for them to give something back to the community. It gives great pride to them.”

The students, some of whom were trained to use paper folding and postage machines, said they received course credits for the work.

Ken McBee, a history teacher at Chaparral, said at least three of his students failed to show up for class from Feb. 6 through Feb 10.

“They were scheduled to be in my class and they were over at the office stuffing envelopes all day, but they had an excuse from the principal,” McBee said. “I think it’s fairly questionable for students who are behind in their academic courses to be losing class time.”

Supt. Ron Raya said the district will respond to the teachers’ complaints in a few weeks. He said he was not specifically aware of what students at Chaparral were doing for community service, but conceded that in the future, the district will probably think twice about what types of activities students are asked to help with.