IRVINE

Despite the escalating costs associated with special education and small primary-grade classes, Irvine Unified School District trustees voted late Tuesday night to table an item that would have placed a parcel tax on the June 8 ballot.

The parcel tax, which needed the board’s approval no later than Wednesday to qualify for the June ballot, would have helped fund science, technology and other programs the 23,000-student district can no longer afford. It would also continue to cap class sizes in the first to third grades at 20 students, said school board President Michael B. Regele. The board may reconsider the parcel tax at a later date.

In January, the district spent $20,500 to perform a community survey that revealed wide support for the levy. In 1991, the district sought a $35 parcel tax via ballot and narrowly failed to gain a two-thirds majority, said Paul Reed, deputy superintendent of business services.