San Bernardino City Unified School District could lose an estimated $6.5 million in state funding over the next four academic years and faces losing up to 40 teaching positions because of avoidable errors made at four low-performing schools.

Edited by I,Praetorian

In one case, Curtis Middle School failed to meet required teacher-to-student ratios. Three elementary schools, Bradley, Mount Vernon and Wilson, each had one teacher who did not meet teaching qualifications.

“That’s an awful lot of money to lose for something that shouldn’t have happened,” said school board trustee Bobbie Perong, who was elected to the board last month. She was among three new trustees and an incumbent who were sworn in at Tuesday’s meeting.

The school district learned of the deficiencies last month following a review by the San Bernardino County Department of Education. A fifth school, Arrowhead Elementary School, could lose about $650,000 because it didn’t meet Academic Performance Index targets.

The state superintendent of public instruction is expected to decide next month whether the schools will lose the money, said Interim Superintendent Yolanda Ortega during Tuesday’s board meeting. If the superintendent cuts the money, which is awarded as a result of the state’s Quality Education Investment Act, the district has said it will file a waiver with the California Board of Education.

So far, the state Board of Education has granted waivers to about a dozen school districts with similar problems, officials said.

“If we lose, that’s 40 teaching positions,” said trustee Barbara Flores, adding that 17 positions would come from Curtis. “That’s one of our neediest areas. We can’t afford to lose those teachers.”

Ortega told school board trustees that processes have been implemented to comply with the program, ensure mistakes are avoided and mitigate the possibility of losing money. District officials now monitor schools daily to determine whether they meet class size requirements, said assistant superintendent Eliseo Davalos.

No one could explain how the oversights happened. Staff somehow dropped the ball, the board was told.

Trustee Danny Tillman noted that had the program been sufficiently monitored, the problems, which were discovered in August, could have been avoided.

“The tragedy here is that we submitted documentation to the county showing that we didn’t meet requirements,” Tillman said. “If we had known, we could have prevented this.”

The act provides $2.5 billion over seven years to nearly 500 California schools with low API scores. The money comes from a settlement between former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the California Teachers Association, which sued Schwarzenegger after he failed to fulfill a promise to repay billions of dollars owed to schools.

Schools must maintain class ratios and have one counselor for every 300 students. The money is to be used to hire qualified and experienced teachers, offer professional development and comply with federal laws regarding maintenance of clean schools and adequate books. Schools in compliance could receive funding until 2014-15.

Twenty-one San Bernardino City schools receive QEIA money.