Simi District to Add 57-68 Teachers and Cut Class Sizes

SIMI VALLEY — Deciding to pare class size in the first and second grades, the Simi Valley school board has voted to hire between 57 and 68 teachers for the school year starting Sept. 5.

“I think this is really a win for everybody,” interim Supt. Robert Purvis said.

The board, like others across Ventura County, was prompted by an innovative $771-million state initiative that will pay school districts $650 for primary students enrolled in classes of 20 or fewer. Districts that participate in the class-size reduction program can trim first- and second-grade classes--and then either kindergarten or third-grade classes.

During a four-hour meeting of the Simi Valley Unified School District on Tuesday night, trustees voted 5 to 0 to immediately proceed with trimming class sizes for the district’s 3,000 first- and second-graders. At the request of trustee Diane Collins, a 13-member district task force will reexamine the feasibility of reducing third-grade classes as well, possibly beginning in February.

“I think [reducing classes] is a good way for the state to invest its money--it’s probably better than building prisons,” Purvis said. “It’s a tremendous investment.”

Smaller classes usually mean students receive more personal attention from teachers, he said. That personal attention leads to educational excitement, and, later, contributes to higher test scores, according to conventional educational wisdom. But the program does not give school districts a free ride.

Depending on the number of teachers--and their experience and salary levels--Simi Valley Unified School District will need to make up an estimated shortfall of $740,000 to $1.2 million.

Because the district budget, adopted before the July state initiative, allocated only $500,000 for the much-anticipated program, the district will very likely have to make some “small cuts” in other areas, Purvis said.

Although trustee Norm Walker was concerned about where that money would come from, he said, “At this point, I think that the money will be there.”

Unlike neighboring school districts, including Moorpark Unified and Conejo Valley Unified, the 21,000-student Simi Valley district does not anticipate a need for additional portable classrooms to accommodate the smaller classes.

The district’s existing six portables will probably be moved to the most crowded elementary schools, Lincoln and Madera. The other 17 elementary schools will make room for smaller classes by decentralizing their computer labs, considering the creation of mixed-age classrooms, and having teachers share classrooms.

Despite Simi Valley being among the county’s last districts to officially vote to shrink its classes, Purvis said that finding teachers--recent college graduates and former substitute teachers among them--should not be a problem.

“Simi Valley is a very desirable place to work and live,” he said.