Parents’ class-size efforts moving slowly

Andrew Edwards

Surf City parents working to keep low class sizes in elementary

schools have joined up with local businesses to move their

fundraising efforts forward.

Huntington Beach businesses have aided parents of children in the

Huntington Beach School District in a variety of ways, ranging from

major to small contributions.

On Jan. 15 at the Huntington Beach City School District offices,

members of the parents’ group called Community for Class Size

Reduction hosted a public discussion on its fundraising drive.

Parents have found one of their biggest friends in Star Real

Estate, a company with offices in Huntington Beach and Fountain

Valley.

In addition to contributions, Star’s management has set aside

offices as drop-off points for donations, and plans to lend phones in

five offices to assist volunteers calling on behalf of the parents’

group.

Realtor Terry Harrison said her company wanted to help schools out

for philosophical reasons, adding that Star realtors recognized low

class sizes have a positive effect on the local housing market.

“It does affect the property value,” she said. “The main reason

people move to Huntington Beach is the quality of education.”

For teachers supporting class-size reduction, the program’s

benefits can be seen inside the classroom, as teachers have more time

to give students individual attention.

“I have, I would say, at least half as many at-risk students as I

had when I had 30 students,” said Lori Beyett, a first-grade teacher

at Smith Elementary School.

Also lending parents a hand are local fast food restaurants.

Tonight, events are planned at two McDonald’s locations, where the

group will receive 25% of sales made to customers who bring a flier

to the restaurant. Fundraising efforts at McDonald’s were also held

Tuesday and Wednesday.

Similar events are planned at Lamppost Pizza, Super Mex, and Baja

Fresh.

Parents are making progress, but still have a lot of work to do.

So far, parents have reported raising close to $50,000, less than

1/4 of the $205,000 needed by mid-April to retain class-size

reduction at current levels for the next school year.

In the wake of last year’s budget cuts, the district chose to keep

a 20 to 1 student-to-teacher ratio in the first and second grades,

while dropping the program for third-graders. In kindergarten,

children are taught in classes of 20 students for a portion of the

school day.

To restore class-size reduction for kindergarten and third grade,

significant amounts of additional funds will need to be raised. It

would cost $455,000 to include third-graders in the program, and

$920,000 to fully implement class-size reduction in kindergarten.

“We need families to jump in and believe that this can happen,”

said Ada Porter, who oversees fundraising for the parents’ group.

Money raised by parents would go to pay the district’s share of

the program’s cost. Most of the funding comes from the state, but

Sacramento does not contribute a dime for class-size reduction if

districts cannot come up with their own portion.

“It’s an expensive program, we all love it, but when it was

originally created it was not funded fully,” PTA legislative analyst

Steven Lustig said.

Whether parents are successful this year, fundraising drives for

class-size reduction are expected in the near future until the state

budget stabilizes.

“It’s gloom and doom this year, but we’re hoping for two or three

years,” said Cathi Livingston, who chairs the parents’ group’s

steering committee.