Chaffey Joint Union High School District cuts school days
Chaffey Joint Union High School District will reduce the current school year by three days to help close a $11 million budget gap.
The three days classes will be canceled are March 29, April 26 and May 17.
The district's teachers and classified unions voted last week to approved the reduction in days, and the dates were released Monday.
"District administrators do not have to vote, but they will be taking those three days off as well," said Don Bertucci, Chaffey's assistant superintendent of business.
The Chaffey Joint district - which includes schools in Montclair, Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga - expects to save $2.1 million, Bertucci said.
The three days classes will be canceled are March 29, April 26 and May 17.
The district's teachers and classified unions voted last week to approved the reduction in days, and the dates were released Monday.
"District administrators do not have to vote, but they will be taking those three days off as well," said Don Bertucci, Chaffey's assistant superintendent of business.
The Chaffey Joint district - which includes schools in Montclair, Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga - expects to save $2.1 million, Bertucci said.
Jan Thornhill, president of the Associated Chaffey Teachers, said the specified dates were chosen so they wouldn't conflict with student testing.
"The March 29th date is just tacked onto the end of spring break. April 26 is right after the state Standardized Testing and Reporting tests and the last date is right after advance placement tests are complete," she said.
While there are day and minute requirements schools need to have students in class, Bertucci said when the budget was passed in July schools were allowed to reduce their school year by up to five days.
"But its never a good thing to reduce the number of hours a student is at school with their teachers," he said.
The district and the budget committee are looking at a number of items to help meet their current target for next school year, Bertucci said. The budget committee is comprised of teachers, parents and classified staff representatives of the Chaffey district.
One proposed item is the reduction of teacher librarians, Bertucci said.
"But this is not a done deal," Bertucci said. "It is one item of many things that we're looking to reduce and until we get into negotiations with the Associated Chaffey Teachers we cannot make that decision."
Another possibility is the reduction of one administrator at each campus.
Thornhill confirmed the district is looking at an extensive list of proposed cuts and that no notices have been sent out.
"That is something that has not been decided yet," she said. "There are so many things that are proposed to be cut now and nobody can question their value, but this speaks to the extreme nature of the cuts that need to be made."
"The March 29th date is just tacked onto the end of spring break. April 26 is right after the state Standardized Testing and Reporting tests and the last date is right after advance placement tests are complete," she said.
While there are day and minute requirements schools need to have students in class, Bertucci said when the budget was passed in July schools were allowed to reduce their school year by up to five days.
"But its never a good thing to reduce the number of hours a student is at school with their teachers," he said.
The district and the budget committee are looking at a number of items to help meet their current target for next school year, Bertucci said. The budget committee is comprised of teachers, parents and classified staff representatives of the Chaffey district.
One proposed item is the reduction of teacher librarians, Bertucci said.
"But this is not a done deal," Bertucci said. "It is one item of many things that we're looking to reduce and until we get into negotiations with the Associated Chaffey Teachers we cannot make that decision."
Another possibility is the reduction of one administrator at each campus.
Thornhill confirmed the district is looking at an extensive list of proposed cuts and that no notices have been sent out.
"That is something that has not been decided yet," she said. "There are so many things that are proposed to be cut now and nobody can question their value, but this speaks to the extreme nature of the cuts that need to be made."
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