Board Seeking State’s OK to Cut School Year

Facing the task of slashing even more deeply the Los Angeles Unified School District’s already battered budget, a divided Board of Education voted Monday to ask the state for permission to shorten the upcoming school year by 17 days, a move that could save approximately $160 million.

The board voted 4 to 2, with one abstention, to seek a waiver from the State Board of Education, which must approve the request. The district has asked the state board to consider the waiver at its June 11 meeting.

Los Angeles Schools Supt. Bill Anton and several board members emphasized that the request is just one way to keep the district’s options open as officials attempt to trim $400 million to $600 million from next year’s budget.

But the board’s decision and even state approval may be moot points if United Teachers-Los Angeles, the district’s largest employee union, decides it will not support the drastic plan. The school calendar, as well as the 8.3% salary cut that would result from 17 days without pay, are negotiable items, according to the union’s contract. Union President Helen Bernstein has said the plan would be unacceptable unless administrative spending is cut first.

“My guess is if the union says no, it doesn’t matter if we get the waiver because we can’t accomplish the change unless they say yes,” Assistant Supt. Gordon Wohlers said. “It would be futile to ask for a waiver on something we could not implement.”

Board members Barbara Boudreaux, Julie Korenstein, Warren Furutani and Jeff Horton favored the waiver request, while Leticia Quezada and Mark Slavkin opposed it. Roberta Weintraub abstained.

UTLA officials said they sent out letters to the union’s approximately 30,000 members over the weekend asking if the union should support seeking the waiver. Chapter chairs will begin phoning in results of the poll at the end of this week, with a final tally to be announced Monday, according to UTLA spokeswoman Catherine Carey.

“Our position will be whatever our membership says,” Carey said.

The union for the district’s administrators must also approve any calendar change, but its president, Eli Brent, said Monday that the group will support it.

Anton has recommended placing the district’s more than 600 schools on the abbreviated calendar. District officials say students would not lose instruction time because the school day would be lengthened 33 minutes in elementary schools and 39 minutes at the secondary level.

The $160 million that the district says would be saved would come primarily from teacher and staff salaries, as well from reduced transportation, utility and other daily expenses, according to officials.

Forty-one district schools already operate on the 163-day school calendar, largely in an effort to relieve overcrowding on campuses in areas of the district west of downtown and in the southeast cities of Bell, Huntington Park, Cudahy and South Gate, which are part of the district. Seven more schools already are slated to adopt the schedule, known as Concept 6, during the next school year.

But a waiver is necessary because the state education code allows the 163-day calendar only at severely overcrowded schools where students attend on a staggered or “multitrack” schedule. Officials say the shortened calendar, if approved for all district schools, would be in effect for no more than two years.

With the official start of the next academic year July 1, board members went ahead Monday in approving calendars that would keep the normal 180-day calendar in place at most schools. But board members who favored the waiver request said it was important to keep open all options that could help the district grapple with the immense budget cuts it will have to make in the coming weeks.

“This is a serious time financially for us,” said Korenstein. “I have no desire to eliminate school days. I don’t think it’s the best alternative for our children, but I have to look at every conceivable way to make sure this district survives this horrible year.”

Horton added that a 163-day schedule for all schools could bring about a true common calendar throughout the district, where several calendars are currently in use. “I welcome the opportunity to treat all students in the district equally,” Horton said.

In abstaining from Monday’s vote, Weintraub said that it made little sense to set in motion any plans to change the district’s calendars without the support of its largest bargaining unit. “We can’t go up to Sacramento without their support,” said Weintraub, who said she would wait to see what the UTLA membership has to say before making a final decision.

Quezada echoed Weintraub’s concerns.

“If UTLA is not going to support it, it’s foolish maneuvering,” said Quezada. She added that she is philosophically opposed to a shortened school year, saying studies have shown that teachers use the extra minutes tacked onto the school day for review rather than for additional lessons.

An application for the waiver request was sent to Sacramento last week in order to reserve a place on the state board’s agenda, according to Wohlers.

Anton conceded that even if the calendar changes are approved by the board, employee bargaining units and the state, it will be difficult to impose such a drastic change throughout the district by July. But, he said, it could be done.

Aside from the waiver issue, Weintraub introduced a motion calling for 27 multitrack elementary schools that now bus at least 90 students to less crowded campuses to reduce their number of staggered schedules from four to three. The change could enable up to 4,200 students to attend their home schools and save the district approximately $4.6 million.

In an unrelated item, the board approved continuing its driver’s training program on a fee basis. Students will pay $130 for the course, which faced a shutdown because of a state decision not to fund the program next school year.

A Shorter Year

The Los Angeles Board of Education agreed to ask state approval of a plan to shorten the school year to help alleviate its financial crisis. The plan would:

Shave 17 days from the normal 180-day academic year, beginning in July.

Add 33 to 39 minutes to each school day so students would not lose any instructional time.

Save about $160 million in staff and teacher salaries, as well as in transportation, utilities and other daily expenses.

Require approval of the district’s teachers and administrators unions and the state Department of Education.