Schools to Add 120 Teaching Positions

To reduce class size in kindergarten, first and second grades, Saddleback Valley Unified School District will add 120 teaching positions for the 1996-97 school year, officials said this week.

The action is in response to Gov. Pete Wilson’s proposal to allocate $771 million for cutting elementary class size to 20 students.

Under the state proposal, schools would receive as much as $650 per student for reducing class size.

For Saddleback Valley, that could total more than $1.3 million, bringing to nearly $5 million the amount of state funding that the district expects to receive specifically for class size reduction, district officials said.

“Parents are enthusiastic, and principals are very enthusiastic,” said Elaine Carter, school district spokeswoman.

Even with the additional state funding, the school district faces a shortage of classroom space in some grades, officials said.

Total enrollment is expected to rise by 900 to more than 31,000 students.

Carter said elementary school principals and district staff members are working on ways to carve out new classroom space by using after-school day-care rooms, buying portable classrooms and converting unused areas on school campuses.

School districts have until February 1997 to work out details and implement the state-funded program, Carter said.

“Class reduction can’t be done overnight,” she said.