Careful beginnings

Lolita Harper

NEWPORT-MESA -- School district officials were planning to work

through the Labor Day weekend in anticipation of the first day of school

today.

School Board President David Brooks said school officials have been

working around the clock to try and make sure district schools are

correctly staffed according to the number of students enrolled.

“We are getting daily counts of how many register packets have been

sent out, how many have been returned, how many students are new and how

many are returning, “ Brooks said. “It’s a combination of art and science

to make sure we have the right number of children, teachers and

classrooms on opening day.”

After last year’s fiasco, which included reconfiguring classes after

school began, district officials were demanding principals be meticulous

in reporting enrollment numbers, said Mike Fine, assistant superintendent

of business services.

They, too, were being very careful, he said. Instead of hiring all the

new teachers they thought would be needed, many were initially hired as

substitutes, until there were enough students.

The last thing the district wants to do is over-staff and then have to

collapse a classroom because of a lack of students, Brooks said.

Budgeting also plays a huge role in the process, he said.

Having too many teachers on the payroll is extremely expensive, Fine

added.

Substitutes will be used until enrollment numbers are finalized, at

which point, full-time teachers will have priority on classrooms, then

the new hires will be made.

“All of our substitutes are fully credentialed and more than capable

teachers,” Brooks said.

At the beginning of last week, there were nine elementary school

classrooms scheduled to start with these substitutes, Fine said.

By Friday, that number was down to five.

“Come Tuesday, I don’t think we’ll have any problem,” Fine said

Friday. “By the time we get through that first week and into the second,

we’ll be at or above our projected numbers.

Katherine Ellis, a 23-year-old Costa Mesa resident, is one of the

substitute teachers who will start the year at Newport Coast Elementary

School.

Ellis, who substituted for the school last year, found out a year ago

she was invited to return.

For the last five days, Ellis has been on campus attending planning

meetings, putting up bulletin boards and positioning the desks for her

third-grade classroom.

She is looking forward to what she hopes will be her first full-time

teaching position this year.

Although her position is not guaranteed, she is treating her job as if

she will be there all year.

“There’s a big possibility they won’t need me, but I really want to be

in the Newport-Mesa district and I’m really excited to teach this class,”

she said. “I thought it would be an awesome opportunity to stay in this

environment.”

* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 lolita.harper@latimes.comf7 .