Teachers Seek Pay for Day Spent at Reagan Protest : Labor: The pair say the Simi Valley Unified School District reimbursed others who took time off to celebrate the library’s dedication.

Two teachers who took a day off to demonstrate at the opening of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library have filed grievances against the Simi Valley Unified School District because it refused to pay them while reimbursing others who joined in the celebration.

Susan English of Hillside Junior High and Kenneth Butts of Sequoia Junior High filed the grievances Tuesday. They said they will meet with Assistant Supt. Leon Mattingley, who is in charge of personnel matters for the district, in the next few days.

Mattingley could not be reached for comment.

English and Butts, both physical education instructors, said it is unfair for the district to pay others who took a “personal necessity day” on Nov. 4 to participate in library dedication ceremonies while denying them the same privilege. At least five other teachers attended the ceremony, district officials said.

“It seems to be pretty obvious if you were politically correct, you got paid for the day,” English said. “If you were not politically correct, you didn’t get paid.”

Butts said he and English considered it a personal necessity not only to protest Reagan’s economic and civil rights policies but to show their students the importance of participating in the democratic process.

“It’s necessary to express our freedoms,” he said. “If we don’t do that, they won’t be there.”

School board members Carla Kurachi and Ken Ashton said they do not believe that Butts and English are qualified for paid leave based on the reasons that they listed for their absences.

“We’re not saying you can’t protest,” Kurachi said. “We’re saying you can protest on your own time.”

Said Ashton: “They went down to express a political opinion, not to gain something that can be used in the classroom. To me, they don’t have much concern for their jobs, they only have concerns for themselves.”

Ashton said he did not have a problem with the district’s paying the other teachers who attended the library opening because they can share their experiences with their students.

The contract between the district and its teachers stipulates that teachers cannot take personal necessity days for vacation, recreation or to pursue personal business or profit, district officials said.

Ashton said it is up to each school’s principal to decide whether to approve a teacher’s request for paid leave.

English said she informed her principal, Kathryn Scroggin, about what she intended to do on her day off. She said Scroggin told her that she had no problem with it, but that the district might. When contacted by The Times, Scroggin declined to comment.

Butts said his principal, Janet Britz, was away when he asked for the day off. Britz did not return phone calls Thursday.

English and Butts said they previously had a similar run-in with the district. Two years ago, they each took a personal day to drive to Nevada and participate in a demonstration against a nuclear missile test site. Both were arrested.

English said the district at first refused to pay them for the time off but later relented.

Bill Davenport, president of the Simi Valley Educators Assn., said the union stands behind the teachers and, if necessary, will call a formal hearing with district officials to resolve the matter. He said such a hearing could involve a state-appointed arbitrator.

“We will take it as far as need be,” he said.