School District Mulling Fees, Layoffs

Administrators of a small school district that straddles Los Angeles and Orange counties say they will consider increasing class sizes, laying off teachers and charging parents for transportation after voters rejected a $95 annual parcel tax.

The transportation fee alone might cost parents up to $360 a year.

The parcel tax was sought in the Lowell Joint School District, which is having to dip into its reserves to balance its $21-million budget. The parcel tax, which would have generated $900,000, was rejected Tuesday by voters in the school district, which operates five elementary schools and one intermediate school in La Habra and Whittier.

Supt. Joe Gillentine said he had expected voters in the older, politically conservative district to authorize the tax, in part because there was no organized opposition and property owners older than 65 could have applied for an exemption. The tax, which would have been levied on each parcel for eight years, needed two-thirds approval in a district where nearly two-thirds of voters are not parents. But only 53% of voters on Tuesday supported the measure.

“We tried to emphasize the exemption, but apparently the seniors didn’t believe it or understand it,” Gillentine said Wednesday.

“We were attempting to help them, because keeping a high-scoring district helps property values. But the community has spoken. They did not want a tax raise.”

Turnout was about 25%.

“Maybe people didn’t understand the issue at hand or the importance of it,” said Cathy Greer, board president for the 3,200-student district.

Greer said trustees hesitated to raise taxes, but they believed they had no choice after the state funding to the district was reduced by about 5%.

“We went to the public as a last resort,” she said. “We hadn’t gone to that in over 30 years. Maybe people didn’t realize the tax money was going to go directly to us. Maybe they thought it was going to the state.”

Gillentine said he was worried that teacher layoffs and larger class sizes would hurt district test scores, which are among the top 15% in the state.

“We’re going to do everything we can to keep them up there,” he said. “But when you have to make cuts to programs or raise class sizes, that affects student learning.”