Local Class-Size Reductions Put on Hold Until January

Ninth-graders won’t benefit from smaller English classes until January when new state funding is available, a top district official said Tuesday.

Although Gov. Pete Wilson approved $44 million to reduce class sizes for English and one other subject, the money is not expected to reach local districts until after the first of the year. Supt. Jerry Gross said his Thousand Oaks district will be ready.

“We’re in the starting block,” Gross said.

District officials discussed reducing class sizes and other budget concerns at a special study session of the Conejo Valley Unified School District board Tuesday night.

Gary Mortimer, assistant superintendent of business services, told the board that Wilson decided to cut funding in half for the ninth-grade reduction initiative after he was advised that school districts would be unable to arrange smaller classes at such a late date.

“It would be nice if some of these people who have the power had some idea how schools actually function,” board President Dolores Didio said before the meeting. “I don’t get the feeling that they do.”

Approving the budget in mid-August made it nearly impossible to reduce class sizes in local high schools by the fall semester, said Richard Simpson, who as assistant superintendent for instructional services oversees revisions to the master schedule for students and teachers.

“Had they done the budget on time, I would have said, ‘Sure,’ ” Simpson said.

The Legislature’s delay in approving the state budget this summer placed the Conejo district in a precarious position as administrators tried to plan for the fall semester, officials said. Now the district faces significant logistical concerns, including hiring new teachers, rearranging the master schedule and finding more classrooms.

Mortimer said money to pay for new classrooms was not built into the state budget. “A lot of schools will have trouble with facilities funding,” he said.

The presentation sparked questions by trustees over details of the statewide class-reduction initiative. Along with English, local districts can choose to expand their ninth-grade offerings of either math, science or social studies. Gross said the Conejo district will probably look to reduce the size of its math classes.

Since it’s very unlikely that new teachers would be hired at midyear, trustee Elaine C. McKearn asked how teachers taking on an extra class would be paid.

In such a case, teachers willing to accept another class will be able to boost their annual salary by one-sixth, said Jody Dunlap, assistant superintendent for personnel services.

Trustee Mildred C. Lynch asked whether the state had included any provisions to measure accountability. Although no such provisions exist, Simpson said he believed the state had ordered a long-term study.

And Didio worried aloud that funding for the program might not be included in the state budget next year, though Gross said he believed it would be.

Initial figures show the Conejo district will spend about $550,000 to reduce ninth-grade classes, with the state picking up $450,000 of the cost, Gross said. Inadequate funding makes it difficult for schools to achieve the goal, he added.