Santa Ana May Hire Retired Schoolteachers

To help reduce class sizes in elementary grades and cope with increased enrollment, the school district may try to hire some retired teachers.

Taking advantage of Gov. Pete Wilson’s offer of financial incentives in exchange for reducing the number of pupils in the lowest elementary grades, the Santa Ana Unified School District is reducing class size in its first-grade classes to 20 students for every teacher.

The interim assistant superintendent for human resources, Mel Lopez, said the district needs about 60 teachers both to reduce class size and help cope with added enrollment. He did not know how many teachers specifically are needed for class-size reduction.

Retired teachers who are hired may go to the first grade or replace teachers from other grades who have gone to the first-grade level, Lopez said.

Under legislation signed by Wilson, only teachers who retired on or before July 1, 1996, qualify, Lopez said.

Tonight, the school board is expected receive a proposal from the teachers union and set a March 25 public hearing on hiring retired teachers.

Details such as pay scales have not been finalized, officials said.

Gladys Hall-Kessler, president of the Santa Ana Educators’ Assn., said that retired teachers typically left the district with many years of experience and salaries of about $50,000 a year.

Lopez predicted that the yearly salary for formerly retired teachers would be $35,000 to $40,000.

The district will save money, Lopez said, because it will not have to pay retirement benefits.

Hall-Kessler said that although some retired teachers may not have the energy levels of other teachers, children will benefit from their experience.