San Juan Unified School District Will Analyze Shortened School Schedules to Save Money

As many California school districts grapple with the state’s economic downturn and its impact on respective budgets, many districts in the area, including San Juan Unified, will examine the logistics of shortened school year schedules.

It wouldn’t be the first time the possibility of implementing a number of “flexibility” items to allow school districts to better handle the massive funding cuts school districts experience, said San Juan Unified representative Trent Allen.

“One of those items was to reduce the legally required number of school days from 180 to 175,” said Allen.

Many school districts have taken advantage of the flexibility, said Allen, including Elk Grove.

According to a new survey issued by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, nearly three times as many K-12 districts have reduced school years than did so last year to partly offset one-time federal aid and payment deferrals. The LAO also found that nearly 60 percent of those districts reduced school years in 2010-11, compared to about 20 percent last year.

However, it is just one idea being brought to the table at this time as the struggle to realign expenses with dwindling revenues continues, said Allen.

“It really becomes a discussion of the cost benefits versus the instructional harm,” said Allen. “Few would disagree that we need to find more instructional time than less.”

The LAO survey also addressed a 3.7 percent decrease in per-pupil programmatic funding in 2009-10 and 5 percent in 2010-11.

Though many California school districts reserved some federal Ed Jobs for 2011-12, it would become more and more difficult to accommodate additional deferral in 2011-12, according to the survey.

The survey also found average class sizes in California have grown significantly since 2008-09. The average class size for Kindergarten through third grade has gone from roughly 20 students per room to 25 in 2010-11.

“With our reserve fund and the federal stimulus dollars in the last few years, we’ve been able to avoid going there (school schedule reduction), but this year may be different,” said Allen.

Legally, California schools must keep students in class for at least 175 days, so the maximum days that could be cut from the current school schedule would be five.

A reduction in the school year would be dependent upon instituting furloughs, which must be agreed upon in a bargaining-table discussion with district representatives. If all five days were cut, and all employees were furloughed the maximum five days, San Juan Unified could save approximately $6.5 million, said Allen.

“The direct impact to employees would vary, depending on their pay and work-year calendar,” said Allen. “For teachers, a five-day furlough works out to roughly a 2.7 percent pay cut.”

Without an agreement from district representatives, though, it isn’t possible to project how significant the impact would be on San Juan Unified staff members. However, the impact would be felt across the board, from teachers and staff to district members alike, Allen said.

“With the exception of directors and senior leadership, district-level employees are all represented by bargaining groups,” Allen said. “There is nothing that would prevent the district from imposing furlough days on employees who are not represented by a union.”

Allen went on to comment on other, minor cost-saving options, including the ability to shutdown facilities and save utility and support costs for a week, emphasizing any and all negotiated items will be given a fair shake at the bargaining table.