Staff Cuts to Schools Will Mean Curriculum Changes

Preparing for staff reductions the 2011-2012 budget will necessitate, the administration recommended curriculum changes for all grade levels at the school board's committee meeting Monday evening.

The plan is to be presented to the state department of education, a requirement for district staff cuts to be approved by the agency.

“In order to map out the furlough process, we need as much time as we can,” Roy said, adding that the district will still have some flexibility in enacting the plan, should the board choose not to make some cuts as it makes final decisions regarding the district budget for the coming year and the size of the accompanying tax increase.

Curriculum changes will affect students at all grade levels, but class sizes in core academic subjects will remain the same, according to the plan.

• The district's pre-kindergarten SPARK program will move from a dedicated facility and be embedded in the elementary schools instead, and the number of SPARK classes will be reduced from the current 15 to 4 or 5.

“We will be decreasing integrated team-based (teaching) to more of a content (emphasis). We would focus on more time in the content areas,” Silva said.

• The district would eliminate three guidance counselors and also eliminate the teacher-coach program in the district.

• At the high schools, electives will need to have a minimum of 20 students per class to run.

Liberty High School Principal JoAnn Durante told the committee she's worried the proposed changes will create a “school of haves and have-nots.” Electives, she said, are where many low-income students get to explore fields when they might not otherwise the opportunity.

“This is where they get a chance to check out a career,” she said. “They don't have a lot of resources.”

Fewer electives mean more students will likely opt for a shorter instructional day, she added.

“If they choose to leave early and not take the electives, I'm going to have a revolving door,” Durante said. “I see fall-out here, in a neighborhood that doesn't want the kids on the streets.”

While the courses are elective, many of them are academic classes, including some Advanced Placement courses, philosophy and literature, art and computer training classes. All are at risk, school officials said.

“Our children are our natural resource. Our failure to provide for them in grades K through 12 is a sin,” she added.

Board vice-president William Burkhardt also expressed concern at the proposed change to high school elective classes.

“My concern would be that we not revert back to massive study halls,” he said. “Are we going to tell students they can't take a full load (of courses)?”

“This resolution as written does not require that, but it does have the flexibility, if the board desires that,” Silva replied.

Board member Rosario Amato was skeptical that the elective class size will have an impact.

“So these electives are going from (class sizes of) 20 to 30,” he said. “Big deal. They're going to go to college, and there'll be more in the lecture hall. Get used to the real world.”

The school board is expected to give formal approval of the plan and its submission to the state department of education at it's next meeting, Monday, April 18.