Schools

LAST CHANCE: District Considers Shortened School Calendar

Strapped for cash, Superintendent Randy Clegg said "everything is on the table," but parents will have their say at one last listening session tonight.

ISD 191 could soon become the first large, metro-area school district to adopt a shortened school calendar to cut costs. 

According to the district, annual revenue is projected to remain flat at $107 million for the next two to three years, while the district continues to see increases in basic operational costs — fuel, health insurance and keeping the lights and heat on. The upshot is that the school district will have to slash $5 million from each annual budget for the next three years.

In view of the financial stress, the Board of Education has discussed previously unheard of measures to whittle down the budget, including an abbreviated school calendar. 

Find out what's happening in Burnsvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Everything was on the table," said Superintendent Randall Clegg. "We are looking for creative, out-of-the-box thinking."

If implemented, the district would shave 17 school days from the 2012-2013 calendar, shortening the school year from 172 days to 155. To compensate, the school day will be 36 minutes longer — a trade-off that will give kids the same amount of instructional hours as a traditional schedule, officials say. 

Find out what's happening in Burnsvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

To accommodate the change, the district has devised several alternate calendars. The first would "sprinkle" the 17 days throughout the academic year, with a four-day school week almost every other week.

Under another arrangement, the district would create a number of three- and four-day weekends and schedule teacher development days during the last two weeks of school. For students, the last day of instruction would be May 24.

Officials estimate that shortening the school year would save $776,000. 

It's an unusual move in the Twin Cities educational scene. So far, only about 20 small, outstate school districts have adopted a shorter school year, the Star Tribune reports.

Such a change would require approval from the Minnesota Department of Education, to say nothing of parents, teachers and other members of the public. At a budget meeting on Thursday night, board members said they anticipated strong resistance to the idea.

Research is scant on the subject, said Board Member Paula Teiken, who voiced concerns about the measure's impact on learning and as well as the many children who depend on the school district's federal food program for basic, daily sustenance. Clegg responded that most research into how similar measures have affected achievement can be found only in a few scattered doctoral dissertations.

"Most (research has) found that the impact on learning is a wash," Clegg said. "But it is a cost-saving measure, first and foremost. You can get cost-savings very quickly from doing this." 

For the time being, the Burnsville Education Association is reserving judgement, said President and sixth grade Teacher Libby Duethman.

"The BEA has not yet taken an official position, but I do anticipate that we will.  It is very early in the discussion process," Duethman wrote in an e-mail on Thursday. "We haven’t heard how the school board feels about Dr. Clegg’s idea, but I hope to hear that tonight (at the Board of Education meeting)." 

A number of parents have not been so shy.

"That's ridiculous if you work full time," said Joy Smetanka told the Star Tribune. "Every other Monday? I wouldn't do that. If they do that, they are going to have a lot of families moving out of the district."

Recent Burnsville High graduate and could see both sides of the coin, though she conceded that the district was in "a tricky situation."

"Obviously adults still work five days a week and this would make it harder for parents of young children making arrangements. However, that can't be the biggest argument because in the summer people get along just fine," Mara wrote on Thursday. "I wouldn't be opposed to this idea because class lengths are pretty short at Burnsville. Classes are hardly 50 minutes and most teachers can tell you that this is hardly enough time to do a lesson."

Adding 36 minutes to the school day would average out to six more minutes per class period at Burnsville High, Mara said.

"I think adding time to each day may do more than save costs. It could teach more," Mara continued. "Being able to cut costs would be wonderful for our education system if and only if this extra money can go to paying our teachers. Better teachers, smaller class sizes, better books, all of these expenses would be worth a few four day weeks." 

This is just one of many cuts currently being discussed by the board. To see a comprehensive overview, click here.

Parents, alumni and educators alike will have a chance to voice their concerns as soon as next week, when the district will begin a series of community meetings. Superintendent Randy Clegg will give a quick overview of the proposed budget for 2012-2013, then the meeting will break up into small groups where board members will answer questions and hear parents' feedback.

The community meetings will take place on the following dates:


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here