Closures loom

Lauren Vane

In his final action as superintendent of the Huntington Beach City

School District, Gary Rutherford made a blistering recommendation at

Tuesday’s board meeting to close two elementary schools as part of a

plan to mend the district’s financial crisis.

“I want you to know that this has been a very thoughtful and

deliberate process,” Rutherford said.

In addition to the closing of two schools, Rutherford also

recommended a $1.2-million cut in teachers’ salaries. As the

superintendent went through his presentation, the crowd of nearly 300

people grimaced at the thought of what the cuts would mean for them.

“If you yank 800 kids out of two schools, where are they gonna

go?” said Gretchen Erickson, a parent of a child in the district.

Although Rutherford himself did not specify which schools should

close, his recommendation only cemented a fear that was installed

last week when a demographics committee advised that the district

close both Peterson and Kettler Elementary.

Joey Erickson, 8, is a second-grader at Kettler Elementary and

lives two miles away from his school. He said he would be upset if

the district decided to close Kettler.

“I would be really mad,” Joey said. “I like it, I have a lot of

friends there.”

Peterson is the district’s largest elementary school and a

recipient of the California Distinguished School Award. The crowd

seemed to be filled mainly with Peterson parents and teachers who

pleaded with the board to save the school and spoke passionately

about their academic community.

“My daughter’s very upset. She knows what’s going on. She’s

crushed at the thought of her school being shut down,” said Marla

Luke, a Peterson parent.

The need for school closures has resulted from years of crisis in

the state education budget, Rutherford said. Per-pupil funding is

down and education has faced four years of budgets cuts, Rutherford

said, calling the impact of the budget shortfalls on K -12 education

“crippling.”

“The long-term solution is we have to get the state to give us the

money they said they would give us,” said trustee Bill Wallace.

It will not be easy for the school district to recover, Rutherford

said. It is possible, but will require sobering cuts to the

district’s budget, Rutherford said.

“The stakes are high and the timeline’s short,” Rutherford said.

In addition to the closing of two elementary schools, a decision

that would save the district $750,000, Rutherford also recommended a

4% reduction in employees’ salaries.

“Sacramento, we have a problem,” Rutherford said to the shocked

crowd of teachers and parents.

Rutherford advised the board to aggressively pursue the school

closures and to make a decision by March 1 because the budget cuts

must be made by June 30. Any school closures would not take place

until September, Rutherford said.

The board decided last night that it will meet on Feb. 22 and 23

to study the superintendent’s recommendation.