By Danny Kelleher
Executive News Editor
After being temporarily suspended, the ballot-counting process of the Mira Costa faculty’s vote on next year’s bell schedule was completed on June 16, with the voters choosing the current plan by a tally of 39-36.
The plan, proposed by Ed. Council, featured 9:28 a.m. late starts every Monday from October through April and an added six minutes to regular school days. The vote was suspended due to inconsistencies in the voting process.
“Having late start Mondays would have been beneficial for the high school community,” Costa sophomore Sarah Locke- Henderson said. “Sleeping in makes helps start the week off.”
Mira Costa Principal Ben Dale announced the suspension of the June 8-10 ballot on June 14 in an e-mail to Costa staff members.
Manhattan Beach Unified Teachers Association Costa rep Karl Kurz initially suspended the vote at Dale’s request, planning to further examine the matter. After the suspension had lasted for two days, Kurz learned that CTA by-laws require ballots to be counted if a vote is held.
“We cannot cancel a vote,” Kurz said. “If we were to do that, think about how much power that it would give the union or even the administration.”
Upon the vote count, it was exposed that there were six more ballots than voter signatures, an inconsistency which called the integrity of the vote into question.
Costa Office Supervisor Shari Humphrey had the responsibility of regulating the voting process. When asked about accusations of ballot stuffing, Humphrey said they occur “every time” a vote is held. Prior to the voting results, when the allegations were just rumors, she didn’t know why these accusations were being treated more seriously than usual.
“They [the teachers] are always saying that,” Humphrey said. “They’re always complaining that something’s not right. They’re always fighting every single vote.”
Lena Agee, Costa’s Food Services representative, openly opposed the proposed schedule and its potential elimination of snack on the late start Mondays.
Other opposition came from certificated employees who would have seen a total of two to three extra days of work without compensation had the plan passed.
Classified employees, who come to school when the students come to school, also took issue with the schedule plan, whose lessened instructional time and increased planning time hours would have decreased their hours of work.
“The plan itself is a good idea,” Dale said. “We all agree that it’s a good idea, but there are too many outside factors that affect people’s opinions about it.”
Had the new schedule been ac- cepted, the decision would have been brought to the MBUSD Board, which would have had the final say on the matter. Unless appealed in the next five to 10 days, the rejection of the proposed schedule will stand for the coming school year.
“A good idea’s always a good idea, so it will remain a good idea,” Dale said. “When we can move forward [with the plan] as a staff, we will.”
Leave a Reply