Parents to pay for 20-1 ratio

Mike Swanson

Parents in the Huntington Beach City School District plan to use

their own money to maintain and expand class-size reduction in their

schools, which some say could disappear next year without their

contributions.

Nearly 100 parents in the district showed up for a meeting on

Monday called by eight parents who comprise the newly formed

Community for Class-Size Reduction Committee. They hope to raise

$455,000 by April through parent and corporate donations to retain

the 20-1 student to teacher ratio in first- and second-grade

classrooms and 20-1 ratios in kindergarten for math and reading. The

money would also restore class-size reduction in the third grade.

By the end of the meeting, parents had pledged $13,600.

“Chances are remote that the state budget will improve,” said

Cathi Livingston, a member of the new committee. “We’re banking on

[Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger] to make things better, but in the

meantime, we need to act to make sure our children are getting the

best education possible. We need to do our best to keep our younger

students’ classes small.”

The committee asked parents in the district to donate $200 for

each child attending its eight schools, regardless of the grade. If

$200 came in for every one of the district’s 5,000 students, then the

committee would raise $1 million. They’ll be happy with half of that,

committee member Joe Churilla said, but $920,000 would fully restore

the 20-1 student-to-teacher ratio in kindergarten through the third

grade.

This year, only the first and second grades have 20 students per

classroom, and kindergarten has small class sizes only during

mathematics and reading, which account for 106 of a 186-minute school

day, committee member Ada Porter said. Third-grade classrooms went

back up to 30 to 1 after this year’s budget cuts. Further cuts next

year would threaten class-size reduction in all grades.

“Once we allow this to diminish, it’s probably never coming back,”

Porter said.

Several parents, including some on the committee, said they were

concerned about the effect cutting class-size reduction would have on

other cuts the administration has to make.

“If you eliminate class-size reduction, you don’t need as many

teachers or buildings, and everything starts to look a lot cheaper,”

Churilla said. “We need to let them know how important this is to

us.”

A first-grade teacher at Perry Elementary School, who has a child

at Peterson Elementary School, said she was told the 20-1 ratio would

be gone by the next school year.

“I’m upset with the product my son’s bringing home now,” said Ron

Bazer, father of a first-grader at Hawes Elementary School. “I can’t

imagine how it’s going to be if classroom populations go up.”

Bazer is among seven parents who volunteered to be “point people”

at each of the district’s eight schools to spread the word among

parents and encourage them to contribute. Perry Elementary School was

the only one without a point person by the end of the meeting, but

committee member Lena Vergara said she’s actively recruiting and

expects to find one soon.

The first-stage goal of the committee is to raise $205,000, which

will be enough to keep class sizes at 20 in the first and second

grades. If the funds don’t reach $205,000, then the money would be

put in a fund to be overseen by a school site council, Livingston

said.

“We’ve fought too hard up to this point to let the money go into a

general fund,” Livingston said. “I’m confident we can at least hit

that first stage.”

As parents voiced concerns about who would be presiding over the

money, whether they could donate in installments and other issues,

Churilla stressed that it’s early in the game.

“We’re in the infant stage of this, so we’re learning as we’re

going,” he said.

The district implemented class-size reduction in the first grade

in 1996-97, in the second and third grades in 1997-98, and in

kindergarten in 1998-99.

Donated funds will be used on a districtwide basis, Livingston

said, not site-specifically.

The parents decided they wanted to meet monthly in the same town

hall-style at the district office on Craimer Lane to track the fund’s

progress, update strategies and bring in more parents. The next

meeting has been tentatively set for 6:30 p.m. Dec. 11.

The seven point parents are Christie Estrin at Kettler Elementary,

(714) 374-7268; Bazer at Hawes Elementary, (714) 965-9936; Rebeca

Baak at Moffet Elementary, (714) 964-9850; Kelly Morrissey at

Seacliff Elementary, (714) 969-9508; Barry Colburn at Eader

Elementary, (714) 378-9027; Crystal Kerins at Peterson Elementary,

(714) 964-8314; and Gina Gleason at Smith Elementary, (714) 969-4916.

For general questions about fundraising, call Vergara at (714)

960-7861 or Livingston at (714) 969-9804.

* MIKE SWANSON covers education and crime. He can be reached at

(949) 494-4321, (714) 965-7177 or [email protected].