The School Board and the Administration have debated optimum class size and decided that in any class where there are more than 32 students, a paid aide should be provided to assist the teacher.
The Arcadia Board of Education granted pay raises to two groups of employees: California School Employees Association members (non-teachers, non-administrative employees) and confidential employees (executive secretaries and others who handle confidential materials).
A bomb scare at the J. C. Penney Co. store in Santa Anita Fashion Park mall led to the closing of about ten stores and the evacuation of more than 100 customers and employees.
Among matters discussed at City Council meeting: new lighting systems for the tennis courts; salary increases for part-time employees; code enforcement.
With the passage of Governor Deukmejian's cost-cutting state budget, the Arcadia Board of Education will have to find more than $1 million to cut to get down to its estimated $24.2 million income and that, according to Superintendent Stephen Goldstone, probably means some employees will have to go.
The City Council approved an ordinance that will limit houses built in the future to a height of 30 feet or less and increase side-yard setbacks to put more space between the property line and the building. (Complete information of the exact stipulations is included in this article.)
The Arcadia Educational Foundation, a non-profit public benefit corporation, is now in the process of incorporating. The purpose of the organization is to provide financial support to the school district. Several other cities in the area have formed similar organizations.
The City Council approved a mandatory water conservation program that requires a 10% decrease in water use by all residents, as well as the use of penalties if residents use more than their share of water.
Less than a month before the Arcadia Historical Society was going to open, the Arcadia City Council has voted to move its building to a new site, at the southwest corner of the Arcadia Public Library.
Despite California's third consecutive dry year, Arcadia pumped 5.56 billion gallons of water from its wells in 1988 setting the city's third highest year on record.
Vons Market, which operates 328 grocery stores in Southern California, has moved its corporate headquarters from El Monte to Michillinda Avenue, between Sunset Boulevard and Huntington Drive. The 240,000 square foot building, a former May Co. store that closed in January 1989, will house 950 Vons employees.
The city council agreed to spend no more than $3000 per year to maintain the big dish fountain at Santa Anita Avenue and Huntington Drive. The fountain broke several years ago and the county felt it could not justify the cost of fixing it.
Article compares the financial status of the Arcadia School District with other districts in the county. Arcadia spends less than average in terms of average daily attendance but ranks high in salaries for teachers and teacher load.
After years of lengthy and frustrating negotiations, Arcadia is close to signing a new franchise agreement with Group W cable television company. An agreement, if reached, would more than double the size of the city's cable system and finally allow Arcadians who live south of the 210 freeway to receive service.
A public hearing is scheduled Monday night by the Arcadia Board of Education on the initial contract proposal by the district's classified employees. They are members of the California School Employees Association, Chapter 40, and are seeking a 10% salary increase.
The Arcadia branch of the California School Employees Association and the Board of Education have come to an agreement on a new contract that will give the non-teaching, non-administrative employees a 5.755 raise retroactive to July 1, 1986.
City Council has renewed an examination of the admission tax Santa Anita pays compared to other race tracks. The track provided 34.1% of the city's total annual revenues in the fiscal year 1980-81. Traffic control costs in Arcadia are higher than in other cities with race tracks.