Torrance Unified Reverses Cuts, Hires Teachers

Torrance school officials this week began hiring dozens of teachers after the school board on Monday restored $1.6 million it had slashed from the district budget early this year.

With the added teachers, student-teacher ratios in the Torrance Unified School District’s four high schools and six middle schools will improve. The added funds also allow the district to restore some jobs and services that had been eliminated because of proposed cuts in state funding to local districts.

In all, the district is restoring 44 of 70 positions that were cut.

District officials were racing to implement the changes before school starts Sept. 11 for high schools and middle schools, and Sept. 12 for elementary schools.

The board had carved $2.56 million from the 1991-92 budget in February, fearing potential cuts in state aid.

“We cut things to a line that we thought was a worst-case scenario,” board President David Sargent said. “Now we’re in the fortunate position of being able to reinstate (many) of the cuts that we put in place.”

The February cuts were accomplished without teacher layoffs because of retirement and attrition.

Thanks to improved cost-of-living allowances to local school districts and the repeal of a fee the county was charging the district, the district administration recommended that a list of items totaling $1,018,000 be restored. The school board went even further, however, and restored an additional $615,000.

The board earmarked $510,000 to add teachers, thus reducing class size. High school staffing ratios will return to one teacher per 27 students, down from 28.5 students after the February cuts. The ratio for seventh and eighth grades will be one teacher per 27 students, down from 28 students.

In other changes, the vocal music program will be restored for children in kindergarten through fifth grade. Six teachers’ positions will be restored in the English as a Second Language program, and two high school librarian jobs will be reinstated.

The board also restored four assistant principal positions, canceling a plan to restructure the high school administration.

Despite the new funding, the board chose not to reinstate the jobs of eight school nurses. Instead, the hours of part-time health assistants were increased in grades kindergarten through eighth.

The district is hiring 38 teachers from its lists of applicants and temporary teachers. Most of that hiring was done early this week, immediately after the board vote, school officials said Wednesday.