Glendale Unified superintendent says Sagebrush transfer would be ‘devastating’ and could mean layoffs
With a public hearing expected to draw hundreds of people to the La Cañada Unified headquarters Wednesday to speak in favor or against transferring the Sagebrush area of La Cañada into that city’s school district, some Glendale school officials are encouraging parents to speak out against the transfer.
In an email Glendale Unified Supt. Winfred Roberson Jr. sent to Glendale residents last week, he said losing the students who live in the Sagebrush area to La Cañada schools would be “devastating,” particularly for Mountain Avenue Elementary, Rosemont Middle School and Crescenta Valley High School.
The loss of state funding that Glendale Unified receives to serve Sagebrush students could potentially result in Glendale Unified laying off 10 full-time teachers — six at the elementary level and four at the secondary level, Roberson said, when reached by phone on Tuesday.
Join the conversation on Facebook >>
While school officials have stated Glendale Unified could lose as much as $3.6 million in state funds per year, this marks the first time they have pointed to the potential of teacher layoffs as a result of losing Sagebrush students.
Unite LCF, the citizens group seeking to transfer the Sagebrush territory, said Roberson’s messages amount to “scare tactics,” according to a statement by Tom Smith, chair of Unite LCF.
“The statements by this superintendent are reminiscent of the scare tactics and disinformation used in prior petition efforts. Inciting fears and causing undue anxiety is exactly what we have been trying so hard to avoid,” Smith said.
The Sagebrush territory in La Cañada encompasses 385 acres, with about 1,000 homes, representing roughly 2% of Glendale Unified’s tax base.
Glendale school officials have estimated that roughly 350 school-age students live in the Sagebrush area.
About 100 Sagebrush students currently attend La Cañada schools, according to Unite LCF.
The recent mention of teacher layoffs marks the first time in years Glendale Unified has cited them as a potential outcome of lost funding.
Even during the most difficult years of the recent economic recession, Glendale Unified avoided laying off any teachers, which school officials have since discussed with pride.
Burdened with a $15-million structural deficit in late 2012, school officials pondered laying off anywhere from 75 to 125 employees in a move to save $6 million. By then, Glendale Unified had not received $150 million school officials had expected to get from the state over the previous five years.
Ultimately, however, school officials asked teachers and classified employees to participate in an early-retirement plan. More than 110 employees, 61 of them teachers, took the deal, and officials ditched layoff plans in February 2013.
That retirement deal, coupled with the state’s passage of Proposition 30 in late 2012, has since restored school funding in Glendale, allowing the district to fill vacant positions and issue cost-of-living pay hikes.
Even as Glendale Unified has made significant funding restorations, losing Sagebrush students could result in a “reduction in financial resources used to provide students with technology, expanded programs and extracurricular activities,” according to Roberson’s email.
In another letter penned by Glendale school officials, they summarized the transfer as “unnecessary” and “misguided.”
The latest effort by Unite LCF to transfer the territory will have the 11-member Los Angeles County Committee on School District Organization weigh in on the matter before voting on it next year.
As part of the committee’s process, members will hear input from residents who reside in both school districts during two public hearings.
Leading up to Wednesday’s hearing, the La Cañada Unified School Board unanimously passed a resolution Monday supporting the transfer, which also stated that the school district would work with La Cañada city officials and Unite LCF to develop a strategy to relieve impacts to La Cañada Unified tied to the increased number of students in that district.
Wednesday’s hearing will begin at 6 p.m. in the La Cañada Unified School District headquarters, located at 4490 Cornishon Ave. in La Cañada.
The second public hearing will occur at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 2 at Crescenta Valley High School, located at 2900 Community Ave. in La Crescenta.
--
Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
