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SALT LAKE CITY — School districts will no longer have the option of reducing instructional days in order to save money, the State Board of Education has decided.
The board last week voted to only allow a reduction of up to two days for the purpose of teacher training — not to cut budgets.
"I think the kids have been out of school enough based on bad economies," said board member Carol Murphy.
For the 2010 and 2011 school years, districts were able to cut up to five instructional days from their calendars. With less revenue coming from state and local sources, the furlough days were a way of trimming budgets significantly without making deeper personnel cuts.
We're not fans at all of cutting instructional days.
–Chris Williams, Granite School District
Millard School District cut five days from its calendar for the 2009-10 school year. Those days made a difference to the district which lost about $2 million in state revenue that year, said business administrator Keith Griffiths.
"We were pretty well able to hold everyone harmless," Griffiths said. "People shouldn't be expected to do the same amount of work for less pay. ... I don't like that philosophy at all."
The following year, the district put the instructional days back into the calendar and used funds typically reserved for building expenses to close its budget gap. The furlough option was always expected to be temporary, but Griffiths said he was surprised the state board eliminated all five days for next year, since he estimates state revenues are still down for his district.
Canyons School District took five furlough days this school year for a savings of about $3.5 million. Davis School District planned to take two furlough days this year, for a savings to the district of about $3 million, but federal recovery funding came through so administrators opted not to.
Despite the Legislature's decision to fund growth for next year, some districts are already anticipating tight budgets that will have to be addressed without a reduction in instructional days.
Granite is looking at about a $3 million to $5 million shortfall, according to a district spokesman, and Davis has identified a "$12.4 million challenge this coming year," said spokesman Chris Williams.
Some board members wanted to allow districts to reduce instructional days by one or two in order to save money, saying it isn't fair that the districts that never utilized the option will never get to.
As budget figures get updated, Davis will look at a variety of departments to find cuts, just as it has in the past, Williams said. Last year, the district didn't renew 90 one-year provisional teacher contracts, it cut district staff and put administrators back into teaching positions to cope with cuts. Furloughs were just one piece of that puzzle.
"We did lots of things just to cover those cuts," Williams said. "We're not fans at all of cutting instructional days."
The state board's vote will allow districts up to two days to train teachers on the Common Core State Standards — new math and language arts curriculum the state has adopted.
Those teacher training days will save districts some money, said deputy superintendent Martell Menlove. Students will have the day off, so bus drivers and cafeteria workers won't get paid, but teachers still will.
Murphy said furlough days have run their course. The economy is improving, and districts have had a chance to acclimate to tight years, she said.
"I think at some point you embrace what your new reality is," she said, "and you move forward."
Email:mfarmer@ksl.com
