Further Cuts at Knightsen School District (CA)
April 30, 2010
Still looking for ways to save money after months of budget cuts, this small-town school district decided last week to furlough teachers next year and shorten the school year.
The Knightsen school board has approved an agreement between the district and the Knightsen Teachers’ Association that will shorten the 2010-11 school year by a week, leaving the district with a total of 175 student days. Teachers hope to make up the lost class time by switching from a quarter to a trimester system next year.
"We’re trying to make it so it’s not going to affect the students that much," Knightsen Teachers Association President Susan Dutra said. "We feel even though we had to give up these five days, by going from quarter to trimester, the amount of instructional time won’t be affected."
Dutra said that with the trimester schedule, teachers will spend less time evaluating and more time instructing students.
In addition to losing the student days, teachers will also be giving up three staff development days next year. The eight furlough days, the first the district has had to impose on teachers, will amount to a 4-percent salary reduction, superintendent Vickey Rinehart said.
Teachers have also agreed to give all Medi-Cal Administrative Activities funds owed for this year and last year to the district. These MAA funds have historically been divided among the district, the teachers who make referrals for health care services,
and a school supplies fund. The teachers’ portion of these funds for the two years would have been about $100,000. The Knightsen PTA has pledged to help allay the cost of school supplies next year by donating $20 for each of Knightsen’s approximately 500 students, Dutra said.
The board has already taken steps to cut 10 percent of its $4 million budget next year. During the past months, the financially strapped district has pink-slipped three teachers as well as a full-time school secretary and two noon-duty supervisors. The school has also cut its music program and reduced many other employees’ hours.
In January, the district voted to close Brentwood’s Old River Elementary School at the end of this year. This will leave Knightsen Elementary, which was recently named by the state as a Distinguished School, as the district’s sole remaining school.
Dutra acknowledged that no teacher wants to lose funding, but said that teachers and district officials were working together to make next year’s budget cuts as painless as possible.
"We looked at how much we are falling short and we said, ‘How can we make up that difference in a way that’s going to have the least amount of impact on teachers and students?’ " she said.