By Julie BUTCHER

The Glendale Unified School District’s board meeting room was festooned with flowers and balloons on Tuesday to honor and celebrate the “special artists” to be recognized for their contributions to this year’s Reflections Art Program. The room was packed with students eager to receive certificates and recognition, their families beaming with pride. The board went into closed session at 5 p.m. At 6:45 p.m., a representative announced that the board would be delayed another 10 or 15 minutes. During the wait, a student from College View School sang to entertain the crowd.

The board started the meeting with routine business before beginning the Reflections Art Program recognition ceremony. 

College View is a school that provides special education services in Glendale, Burbank, and the foothills. Principal Jay Schwartz noted that “four of our students have projects going to state. This year’s theme was ‘Within Reach’ and this means so much for our kids. Look at Trynity’s drawing. She reaches for M&M’s in my office and she is the only one who can actually work the dispenser. She laughs and laughs and that makes us all laugh. It’s all there in her artwork. This means so much to these kids.”

The theme for the national PTA program next year is “Heroes Around Me.”

The GUSD board also heard a brief report on the school bus strike that took the district by surprise early on the morning of Jan. 18 and which ended after the parties negotiated a successful new contract. The strike ended on Jan. 31. Chief business and financial officer Stephen Dickinson told the board that all transit routes are back to normal including approximately 80% of the special education transportation routes that have now been transitioned to alternative providers. 

“We really appreciate the patience of our parents,” Dickinson said. 

School board member Greg Krikorian speculated that the district would lose $18,000 a day in financing. 

“When does this bid come up again?” Krikorian asked. “What is our Plan B when we have handicapped and disabled kids not getting to school?” 

Dickinson explained that the state education code provides for reimbursement to school districts in certain circumstances and that a labor strike falls under those provisions. He said that the district expects it will get 90% refunded, approximately $29,000.

Board member Shant Sahakian commented on the strike noting that he supports the rights of workers to bargain collectively and even to go on strike. 

“It’s important that we get as much notice as possible,” Sahakian added. “Can we also look at our other service contracts so we’re not surprised like this again?”

The school bus strike began after members of the Teamsters Local 572 refused two different offers from First Student, an Ohio-based contract transit company that provides transportation services to the Glendale school district as well as to school districts in Pasadena and Alhambra. The union reported that its contract expired in August 2017 and that it went on strike only after exhausting all other means to address its outstanding issues including reported safety issues.

Jay Brock of First Student in Cincinnati, Ohio said that there was only one reported safety issue and that it had been resolved immediately. 

“We’re just glad that everyone is back to work and we can get back to doing what we do best, getting students to and from school,” Brock said. “We’re proud of our safety record and maintenance protocols. Any driver who believes that his or her bus is unsafe can take it out of operation until it’s inspected and approved for safe operation. Every bus is inspected before and after every shift as well as on a regular maintenance schedule.”

In the GUSD, the strike affected approximately 950 students who attend Clark Magnet as well as 450 special education students throughout the district. At College View School, the strike came as a total surprise. 

“A parent called Jay [the school’s principal] at around 7:40 a.m. that morning. We don’t start until 8:45 a.m., but kids get picked up starting at 7 a.m. or so,” teacher specialist Corky O’Rourke recalled. “And do you know, all but one of our students came to school that day? Every one of them except for the [student] whose mom doesn’t like to drive in traffic. Keep in mind that half of them are in wheelchairs. All of them rely on district transportation. There were so many parents parking in our lot that we discovered a dangerous spot we hadn’t known about before. A parent pointed it out and, sure enough, it was dangerous, especially for a student in a wheelchair.”

Regarding the strike, O’Rourke said, “We get it. We’re all workers. No one was mad or even annoyed at the drivers. They recently just got a small raise, but the strike was more about their benefits. They wanted to go to 80/20 and the company wants to keep it at 60/40. We support them on that.”