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Parents, teachers and aides urge Monrovia Unified board to reverse special‑education hour cuts and meet 55% classroom‑spending rule
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Summary
More than a dozen public commenters — many long‑time Monrovia Unified employees — told the board the district’s March MOU that reduces hours for roughly 19 special‑education aides will disrupt student supports and worsen retention. Speakers also said the district is below the state’s 55% spending threshold for classroom salaries and urged a bargaining response.
Hundreds of people in the audience and a string of public commenters told the Monrovia Unified School District Board of Education on March 11 that cuts to aide hours and an apparent shortfall in classroom spending are harming students and driving staff away.
Parents, classified staff and teachers concentrated their remarks on a recently approved memorandum of understanding that reduces hours for about 19 special‑education instructional aides to six hours per day. Laurie Schlageter, who identified herself as a community member, said these aides “provide direct support to some of the most vulnerable learners” and urged the board to reconsider the decision.
The commenters framed the staff cuts alongside a separate budget concern: several speakers cited California Education Code’s 55% requirement that a minimum share of current expenses be devoted to classroom teacher salaries and benefits. “Numbers don’t lie,” said a speaker who identified herself as an MTA representative and cited district percentages that fell from about 59.5% six years ago to roughly 50.8% most recently. Speakers said the decline indicates a pattern of deprioritizing classroom compensation.
Teachers and long‑time employees described the programmatic and personal effects of the change. Martha Solorzano, who said she has worked for the district for 17 years, provided a site‑level impact estimate and told the board how the change equates to a multi‑thousand‑dollar annual pay cut for affected staff. Paul Dals, a Monrovia High School teacher of 28 years, said the cumulative impact is an erosion of retention: “If we truly put students first, then we must put their teachers first,” he said, adding that teachers have left for higher pay in neighboring districts.
Several commenters also criticized the process. Erin Thorne, who said she served on the CSEA negotiations team and has worked for the district 26 years, told the board that staff learned of the reductions by email the day after the board’s March 11 meeting and that the MOU had not been reviewed by the union field office before implementation. Thorne called the timing “blindsiding” for employees and contrasted it with earlier layoff notices that were shared a year in advance.
Board members and district staff responded with procedural clarifications and promises to follow up. The board’s public‑comment rules limited the meeting to clarifying questions; several members asked staff to return with more detailed impact data and an outline of next steps for bargaining and scheduling. The board did not take any immediate action to reverse the MOU during the open session.
What happens next: commenters asked the board to reopen negotiations, restore hours where student need dictates, and present a clear plan to meet the state 55% spending requirement. District staff acknowledged the concerns and said they would provide further information at a future meeting.
