School districts try to make do with what they have

Ocean View protects bilingual programs

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA—The Ocean View School District will begin the 1990-91 school year with $ 1.1 million in budget cuts but with a desire to improve bilingual education and restructure its administration.

“We had to make some significant staffing cuts, but those were at the district service level,” Superintendent Monte McMurray said. “There were no cuts at the school level.”

The equivalent of 13.66 full-time positions were eliminated. Many of them were vacant positions left unfilled. Other cuts came from reductions in hours or redistribution of duties.

The board of trustees this month passed a budget with a $ 1.4 million deficit to be paid with reserve funds.

McMurray has labeled bilingual and English as a Second Language programs and developing a desegregation plan as top priorities.

Bilingual and ESL programs received the largest funding increase, $ 136,000.

Other top priorities are a long-range plan and a study of school closures, consolidations and realignments.

“I’m very optimistic, looking at this year,” McMurray said.

Enrollment projections show a slight increase for the second consecutive year, and the district has a contract with its teachers after a 14-month standoff. McMurray said he hopes for cooperation between administrators, teachers and staff members.

Trustees are reviewing an organizational study by Terry McHenry of School Services of California, based in Sacramento.

McHenry’s report compares Ocean View with districts of comparable size and recommends changes in budget preparation, administrative responsibilities and other areas.

McMurray said he is pleased with the study and said some of the changes could make for a “more efficient, streamlined operation.”

Meanwhile, new faces dot Ocean View schools.

Sandra L. DeYoung takes over as principal at Lake View School, replacing Diane Hobbensiefken, who left to become a principal in Vista.

DeYoung, who is Asian, is the district’s second minority principal.

She taught in the district for 14 years and spent the past five years as an administrative assistant at Vista View School.

Other new faces are Kim Bess, a fourth-grade teacher at Oak View School; Judy Byrd, a seventh- and eighth-grade teacher at Spring View School; Oak View teacher Tamara Gillespie, who has not received a class assignment; and teacher Stacy Pollard, who has not been assigned to a school.

The district might hire five or six additional teachers before the start of classes, said Joe Condon, director of personnel services.



Comments are closed.