SANTA ANA : Year-Round Schools Get a Single Schedule

Students who attend year-round schools in Santa Ana will be going to class in 60-day cycles with 20 days of vacation in between under a schedule adopted by the school board this week.

The district, which will have 18 year-round elementary schools beginning July 1, had previously been operating on two separate year-round schedules. Some schools were in session for 45-day cycles with 15 days of vacation, while others were already on the newly adopted schedule.

The board’s action places all of the year-round schools on the same schedule.

District officials said a single schedule will enable them to provide better coordination for staff, students and parents, will require fewer room changes and will save at least $300,000 in transportation costs.

“That’s just the beginning of the savings,” said John Bennett, assistant superintendent of the district’s elementary division.

“With one less cycle, there will also be a savings in overtime pay and in staff in-service training,” Bennett said.

A telephone survey of more than 400 randomly selected parents in the district indicated a “definite preference” for the 60-20 schedule, Bennett said.

Denise Thomas, a teacher at Edison Elementary School, opposed the new schedule at a board meeting this week. She said having children out of school for three weeks at a time instead of two weeks could lead to problems.

“Parents have a problem with finding something to do with their children,” Thomas said. “We all know what children do when they get bored. They get into trouble.”

School board member Audrey Yamagata-Noji said the board’s decision was a difficult one.

“There are so many pros and cons to both schedules,” she said. “But I think overall, in terms of efficiency in the operating of schools, this schedule works better because there is one less rotation.”

Supt. Rudy M. Castruita commended the board for settling on a schedule in February so parents, teachers and staff would have enough time to make adjustments before the schedule goes into effect on July 1.