|
2010 school start set Aug. 23
|
FULTON COUNTY – After months looking at a multitude of calendar options and wading through thousands of e-mails from the community, the Fulton County Board of Education finally approved a 177-day calendar for the 2010-11 school year that starts school on Aug. 23, 2010 and ends it May 27, 2011.
The start date for next year is two weeks later than 2009 and is a compromise for those pushing for a post Labor Day start.
Although three days are being trimmed from the current 180-day school year, the school system is actually increasing seat time by nine hours for each student.
To make up for the time, the BOE is adding 10 minutes to each school day and giving up the five early release days.
There was discussion that schools may be able to use those 10 minutes where they see fit, i.e. adding it to a specific subject, such as math, if that is where additional time is needed.
"It's important for us to remember that it is not how many days a child spends in the classroom, it's how that time is used," said Julia Bernath, school board vice president.
While school board members batted around statistics in their debate of how time spent in class affects student achievement, the issue was purely budgetary.
Faced with declining revenues at state and local levels, school systems are looking for ways to cut budgets.
The 177-day calendar is anticipated to save $1.1 million each year due to reduced expenses in transportation and facility operations, as well as some personnel costs.
However, the elephant in the room will continue to be staff salaries, which account for nearly 90 percent of the overall budget. While students get a shortened school year, teachers will continue in their 190-day contracts.
A more likely scenario to help struggling school systems will be a statewide mandatory furlough of teachers, although that decision will likely not come down until the state Legislature convenes in January.
Already, Fulton has had three days of mandatory furloughs this school year, with four more a possibility. Those three days alone saved Fulton Schools nearly $7 million at the start of the school year.
The school board also opted not to approve a calendar for the 2011-2012 school year. That was to allow more time for review of economic situations before committing to another 177-day school year.
To create the proposed calendars, a 17-member Calendar Committee reviewed school board policy, testing dates, major religious and national holidays, and new state calendar guidelines. However, in the end, the school board rejected the calendar committee's recommendation for an Aug. 16 start date, opting to go with Aug. 23.
The only "nay" vote came from Roswell board member Linda Schultz, who has been an opponent of any calendar that strips days from the school year. While she said the 177-day calendar was a vote she could live with, she opposed an Aug. 23 start date, saying it gave kids fewer days to prepare for statewide testing.
"The testing dates are set by the state and are rigid dates," said Schultz. "This calendar provides five fewer instruction days on these mandated tests, which are pass/fail for many students.
"My community was very strong in their feelings that this was not the best way to go."
The Aug. 23 start date also establishes uneven semesters, with the first 11 days shorter than the second. However, board members said the actual difference is less because of testing dates in the second semester, which take time away from classes.
| |
|
|
