Newport-Mesa Halts Class Size Reductions

COSTA MESA —  The Newport-Mesa Unified School District board on Tuesday became the first in Orange County to vote against further reducing the size of some elementary school classes, saying the district lacked the money to pay for more teachers.

Not only is the project’s expense prohibitive, but board members said they have other budget priorities now, the foremost of which is giving teachers a substantial raise.

“We don’t want people to think we aren’t concerned about our students, but we must have a balance,” and teachers need a raise, board member Serene Stokes said.

When the state last year announced it would give school districts $650 for each student in lower grades in a class of no more than 20, many cheered the move and began reducing class sizes. Newport-Mesa already has reduced the number of children per class in kindergarten through second grade.

But school boards have since learned that it will cost the districts money to take advantage of the available state funds. For that reason, other school boards are expected to follow Newport-Mesa and opt against further class reduction.

Newport-Mesa’s initial class reduction, for example, cost $3.1 million. The district hired 67 new teachers and bought several portable classrooms. The state paid $2 million of that.

If the state later decides to pick up the entire cost of the program, Newport-Mesa officials said, they will reconsider Tuesday’s vote.

Newport-Mesa teachers received a 1.2% raise last year and 1% the year before, and no raise at all in the three previous years. According to a recent survey conducted by the Orange County Department of Education, they are now among the lowest paid teachers in Orange County. Board members say a raise is necessary to prevent them from finding jobs at other districts.

“I’m definitely not against smaller classes, but this community really expects a lot from the teachers, so you’ve got to pay them,” said Dan Glenn, a teacher at Newport Harbor High School.