CLASS SIZES WILL GROW DISTRICT FACING $428 MILLION GAP.

Byline: Sonia Giordani Staff Writer

Los Angeles school district trustees slashed more than $383 million from next year's budget Tuesday by increasing class sizes, making cuts to administrative offices and reducing employee benefits.

The cuts were made by the Los Angeles Unified School District's Board of Education in an effort to eliminate a $428.5 million budget shortfall in the new fiscal year.

Classroom cuts totaled more than $77.5 million, including a $26.8 million reduction for remedial students and $31 million in special-education services.

But the most controversial issue was class-size increases to all classrooms in grades four through 12, as board members noted that most classrooms are already bursting at the seams.

The board originally voted 6-1 to turn down the proposal, with only board President Caprice Young voting for the $48 million cut. Then, after the board came back from a dinner recess, members reversed themselves and voted 4-3 to approve the increases.

Board member David Tokofsky immediately alleged a violation of California's open meeting laws and called for an investigation into why the board changed its mind.

``All I know is 100 people left the auditorium for a 45-minute dinner break, and when we came back four people changed direction,'' said Tokofsky.

Other board members denied there was any open-meeting violation.

Also Tuesday, board members voted to cut $52 million in employee health benefits.

They also approved $36.9 million in cuts to central and local district offices, including elimination of dozens of support positions that could require some employees to be laid off unless they can find positions elsewhere in the district.

The board also agreed to delay more than $9 million in additional funding that would expand after-school programs and restore the depleted ranks of school custodians and gardeners.

In addition, it cut $4 million previously allocated for moving personnel and equipment into the district's new headquarters at 333 S. Beaudry Ave.

``It is a very, very difficult thing to cut these funds,'' said Superintendent Roy Romer. ``But we need to find a way to do it.''

Romer proposed $459 million in possible cuts for the budget starting July 1.

Tokofsky noted that Romer's budget does not include an expected $100 million in state funding. Romer said the district hopes to recover that money but excluded it from the budget after the state withheld those promised funds last year.

The district made $107.6 million in midyear budget reductions this year, stemming in part from the ballooning costs of workers' compensation claims and special education programs.

While board members said they understood the dire financial predicament facing the school district, many were concerned that cuts to classrooms would hurt the most overcrowded and lowest-achieving schools.

``In a school district with the most overcrowded schools in the nation ... increasing class size would pack more students into already crowded classrooms,'' said board member Jose Huizar, who represents East Los Angeles and parts of downtown and voted against the class size increases.

The board did agree on certain cuts. For instance, members voted to reduce the LAUSD's contribution by $10 million to a workers' compensation reserve fund it is trying to restore after nearly depleting it in recent years.

Cuts to central and local district offices included trimming clerical positions and those providing professional development. Special-education administrators took a $1.8 million reduction and expect to eliminate 15 positions, though school officials said the workload will be distributed among remaining staffers and could require overtime.

Judy Burton, superintendent of District C in the San Fernando Valley, said the cuts will require her to eliminate key positions, including those for the district's successful student literacy program called Open Court.

Burton said she also will have to lay off employees who assisted struggling students as well as those who helped operate summer school programs, enforced standards-based promotion, and oversaw Advanced Placement and grant programs.

One counselor responsible for ensuring that struggling students show up to school and obtain the resources they need also will be eliminated.

``The cuts are difficult, but our intent is to continue doing the best job we can,'' Burton said.