Bathrooms at Belmont High

The communications assistant to LAUSD Supt. Ruben Zacarias makes $101,000 a year (“Top Aide to Zacarias Says He’ll Resign,” Oct. 18). There are four lavatories for boys at Belmont High. Three of the four toilets [in one lavatory] don’t work but are used and “last week were filled with human waste. None of the stalls had doors. There was no toilet paper, no soap, no hot water and no paper towels” (“ ‘We Need It,’ Students Say of [New] Belmont School,” Oct. 18).

When Belmont students prefer the risk of going to a new school on a toxic site, where maybe they’ll have lavatories for human beings, paying a communications assistant $101,000 is beyond disgrace.

DAMIANA CHAVEZ

Los Angeles

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In the article regarding Belmont High School, students complain about a dirty school with broken toilets and even foul-smelling air from the roof repair. I’m appalled at the lack of responsibility and inaction of the principal, Ignacio Garcia. It’s the principal’s duty to make certain a campus is kept clean and facilities, such as the toilets, are in working order. And it’s the principal who must be diligent about the clean environment and anything else that would interfere with the students’ learning on campus, such as the ill-timed roof repair that causes terrible smells and dirty air.

My sister is a principal of a large school in a neighboring school district and I know that she monitors the learning environment and cleanliness of the school.

It’s time the principal began using the same toilet facilities as his students. Then maybe they would be repaired.

CAROLE WALSH

Canoga Park

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As a substitute teacher with a long-term assignment at Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, I take particular pleasure in poring over your articles relating to the Los Angeles Unified School District. While the articles are insightful and well researched, there is a common misperception that permeates throughout, which causes me undue ire and anguish.

Invariably, when The Times lists the things wrong with the school district, the number of substitutes employed in the classroom always appears. Why has this issue become such a sticking point? The implication here is that substitute teachers are not qualified to teach classes. Such is not the case. Many are young and energetic, with fire in their bellies and passion in their hearts to truly reach out to the students and make an impact. I can’t count the number of fully licensed teachers who are simply “punching the clock” and collecting their paychecks. Currently, I am on a one-man crusade to eradicate swearing on campus (with little support from the school), and to change the all-encompassing attitude that a C is a good grade.

NICHOLAS HAUSELMAN

Los Angeles