The Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers has issued a letter denying the school district's claims that the union was responsible for the elimination of a science enrichment program at Kaiser Elementary School in Costa Mesa.
Kimberly Claytor, federation president, on Friday sent a letter to Newport-Mesa Unified School District officials saying the union supports reinstating last year's science schedule and that the district misinterpreted concerns the union brought up regarding educators' workloads.
For years, Kaiser sixth-graders received 90 consecutive minutes of science instruction during normal school hours each week.
Half an hour of that instruction was an enrichment program funded by a group of parents who raise funds on behalf of the Kaiser Woodland Foundation.