School Year to Start Later, End Earlier

If Calabasas High student Brenda Abalkhad has to take furlough days, she would rather they not be in the middle of the school year.

"It's more convenient to start later than to have furloughs in the middle of the school year," she said. "It gets you off track."

Facing a $3 million budget shortfall for the 2010-11 school year, the Las Virgenes Unified Board of Education voted unanimously to start the school year later and end it sooner as part of its effort to curb costs and save 73 teaching and counseling jobs.

Schools within Las Virgenes Unified will start four days later in the fall than initially planned and end four days earlier, with Sept. 1 being the first day of classes and the last on June 9, 2011.

The new school year calendar will save the district $2.5 million and bring its deficit down to $5 million, said Dan Stepenosky, assistant superintendent of personnel who also co-chaired the calendar committee.

Initially, the district was going to adopt a furlough week in February, but parents and staff asked the board to take up the issue again.

"It's tough on employees and tough on students with the loss of instructional days," said Stepenosky. "It's not a situation we're happy to be in and we're in it at no fault of our own. Hopefully, state legislators will take care of education."

In addition, the district reduced its staff, eliminated middle school deans and instituted a 5.4 percent pay cut, among other moves, he said.

Some parents understand the tough decisions school officials had to make.

"Sacrificing these days is the most helpful way to keep the district intact and provide kids with the teachers they need," said Lisa Toledo, whose children attend Agoura High School. "As a parent I don't have a problem with losing days in order to balance the budget."

Budget cuts and furloughs are often a topic of classroom conversation for Jake Cohen, who will be starting the ninth grade this fall.

"Furloughs are awesome because we get extra days off and we get to save teachers," he said. "With furloughs, we don't get to do as many projects, so it's kind of rushed."

Todd Molnar has two children attending LVUSD schools and would rather see furloughs than cuts in the arts and sports.

"It's just another sign of how much the state is hurting," Molnar said. "The school system here is great, and I hope it stays that way because the only other option is private school, but that's really expensive."

The calendar committee will meet again in the fall to develop the 2011-2012 school calendar. Click here to view the 2010-11 calendar.