Board to Seek More Class-Size Funding

Frustrated by the partial state funding of the class-size reduction program, Simi Valley school trustees are poised to ask the state for full funding of the popular venture.

“We don’t get full funding for hardly anything--to purchase a book for a student, to buy supplies, to pay for special education,” Trustee Carla Kurachi said. “So it’s very, very difficult when we get another program and we don’t get full funding for it.”

The $771-million class-size reduction program reimburses school districts $650 for every primary grade student in a class of 20 or fewer. The catch is that the actual cost of hiring new teachers and buying supplies is closer to $800 a student, according to a resolution Simi Valley Unified School District trustees are expected to approve at tonight’s meeting.

Last month, trustees for the Conejo Valley Unified School District approved a similar measure, hoping to sway state legislators. The push for full funding comes as Gov. Pete Wilson and others propose expanding the program while still asking school districts to pick up part of the tab.

To pay for trimming class size in grades one through three, the Simi Valley school system will spend $500,000 of the general fund this school year alone. The deficit for teachers salaries will grow to $1.2 million next year. That amount does not include facilities spending, which will vary depending on how many sixth-grade students take advantage of a voluntary program to attend middle instead of elementary school.

“When we don’t get full funding, that means that we have to cut something else out to pay for” class-size reduction, Kurachi said. “You might be enhancing the younger students’ education, but at what cost to the older student?”