Tustin School Celebrates in API Test-Score Sweepstakes

The buzz at Lambert Elementary School in Tustin began early Tuesday morning as teachers and classified employees gathered in the lounge where the good news had been posted:

Bonuses of nearly $600 will be doled out to all 50 employees, from the principal to the custodian, rewards for meeting test-score goals. Lambert, in fact, posted the county’s biggest gains.

On Tuesday, school employees happily chatted about their plans for spending their $591 bonuses. Many said they would share.

“For me, spending it on books would reward all of us in the classroom, not just me personally,” said kindergarten teacher Eve-Ellen Goldstock. “It would reward all my students.”

“It’s very exciting,” said Sherry Debter, attendance secretary. “I’m getting married in September, so it’ll probably have something to do with that.”

Lambert Elementary is one of 380 Orange County schools reaping the one-time bonuses from the state for exceeding the targets set out in the 2000 Academic Performance Index.

That much, Principal Karla Wells and her fellow employees at Lambert knew.

What they didn’t know was how much the school will receive: $50,534, with half being divided among the employees. Some didn’t realize they were even getting a bonus.

“People were asking, ‘Is this true?’ ” Wells said. “In education, we’re not used to getting bonuses.”

In all, Orange County schools are sharing $27.04 million, part of $320 million earmarked for schools statewide that posted academic improvements. The bonus program is one of three new state award programs that tie financial incentives to academic excellence.

“Educators are under close scrutiny and awarding the good work they do is what we like to see happen,” said Linda MacDonell, assistant superintendent of instructional services for the Orange County Department of Education. “We have some of the finest schools in the state in Orange County and, of course, for us it’s just a thrill that they’re getting the recognition that they deserve.”

The mood at other rewarded schools was ebullient Tuesday.

“Everyone is walking around with smiles today,” said Brenda Clark, principal at Olinda Elementary School in Brea, which received $15,705. Administrators plan to use the money to update the school’s computer lab and pay for teacher training.

Lambert Elementary School had particular reason to celebrate its pending bonanza, having posted the highest gains of any Orange County school in the Academic Performance Index, which is based on the students’ scores on the Stanford 9, a standardized basic skills test.

“We went up 102 points” for the 1999-2000 school year, Wells said. “Our goal was to go up 11 points, so we are very proud.”

In January, Lambert Elementary received a $39,575 award from the first of the state’s three incentive programs, the Governor’s Performance Award, which presented $207 million to about 1,400 schools that demonstrated academic excellence.

The third state program is the Certificated Staff Performance Act, which will award $100 million statewide to 10,000 teachers. The teachers, who will be selected from the pool of schools that received the first two honors, will receive $5,000, $10,000 or $25,000 awards. The winners are scheduled to be announced in late April or early May.

Wells said the employee bonus awards acknowledge the team effort involved in helping students succeed.

“I think it’s tremendous for morale,” she said. “The teachers have worked--and in fact the whole staff has worked--extremely hard to make sure we’re providing all the opportunities we can for our kids to achieve academic success.”

Wells knows where her school’s half of the $50,000 will go: improving the school’s technology program.

“We have a goal of having five computers in every classroom, in addition to our computer lab that we already have,” she said. “So this award will go a long ways toward making our goal happen.”

Most Lambert employees also have a good idea what they’re going to do with their own bonuses.

Custodian Bob Zanine said he plans to buy power tools for himself and trees and plants for the school. But even the power tools will benefit the school: He makes wooden birds and animals for the Lambert garden, where he helps teach students how to grow things.

“This is one team effort,” he said. “Obviously, I’m not involved in classroom instruction, but I keep the campus looking good. The teachers are happy coming to work, and if they’re happy, they give better instruction. It’s a team effort, and everyone in the chain is strong.”

Instructional assistant Carolyn Colby said she wasn’t sure what she was going to do with her bonus, “but I’m sure I won’t have a hard time spending it.”

As for Wells, she already has her $591.32 bonus earmarked.

“Oh, hey, my son goes to the University of Pittsburgh and I have a big tuition bill coming,” she said.

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Also contributing to this report was Times staff writer Jason Song.

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It Pays to Study

Nearly 400 Orange County public schools will receive $27 million in bonus money for improving students’ API scores.

Average per school: $35,587.63

Per full-time student: $591.32

Source: California Dept of Education