After the Douglas County School District’s $395 million bond and $17 million mill-levy issues failed at the ballot box in November, the district must sharpen the knife for major cuts over the next two years.
The state’s third-largest district, with 58,723 students and more than 70 schools, will pare about $37 million from its $450 million budget over two years — increasing class sizes, cutting bus routes and reducing the number of credits high schoolers need to graduate.
The district also faces about a $5 million cut in state funding.
If further reductions are needed, the district may also examine changing the calendar to a four-day school week.
“We are willing to study any option,” Superintendent Jim Christen sen said. “We cut $21 million last year and now $37 million over the next two years. We also have some state-imposed reductions. I don’t think it’s at the bottom yet.”
Current staffing levels are expected to be reduced by up to 238 positions, with most cuts coming through attrition.
Class sizes in elementary and middle schools will increase by one additional student over the two-year budget period, eliminating approximately 30 teaching positions at a savings of $1.95 million.
High school graduation requirements would decrease to 24 credits from 25.5 credits, eliminating 31.5 teaching positions at a savings of $2.16 million.
“We have the highest credit requirements in the state,” said Annette Fante, assistant superintendent of learning services. “We are looking at moving to 24 credits, which would reduce three semester classes over the four-year high school career.”
Under the plan, high schools will go to a flexible eight-period schedule, with students required to take six periods a day.
The district’s nine high schools would become open campuses, allowing sophomores through seniors to leave during the day. The change would allow for the reduction in the number of staff needed for supervision.
“We have many high schools at or near full capacity,” Fante said. “To spread the day over the flexible periods allows us to accommodate all students.”
The school board will vote on graduation requirements and the open-campus plan Feb. 17. Other parts of the plan already are in place.
Cuts in transportation will save $2.6 million. Bus routes will have central pickup and dropoff areas in neighborhoods, middle school students will be bused with high schoolers, and dual routes would be eliminated, said Steve Herzog, chief operating officer.
“With our 870 square miles, we spend a lot of money on transportation — $18 million a year, which works out to about $1,000 a kid” for the 18,000 who ride a bus, Herzog said.
“We have been very nice to them as far as driving down streets and picking up kids a block from their house. We’ll have more direct routes and one or two stops in a neighborhood.”
Some parents are bristling at the cuts.
“In light of the fact that (ballot measures) 3A and 3B didn’t pass, (Superintendent) Christensen is washing his hands of it,” parent Jeni Murphy said. “He is trying to make these cuts that are right at the grassroots level.”
The biggest reduction would be in compensation for all 6,500 district employees, including 3,100 teachers. The district and employee unions are in negotiation over how that will be reduced. One suggestion is a salary freeze, which would save $17 million.
District officials also sought advice internally for other possible cuts, and several respondents suggested the district move to a four-day school week — saving on energy, transportation, food services and hourly staff.
“That’s something that is intriguing,” Herzog said, adding that any calendar change would require a thorough study and community input.
No metro-area district has a four-day week, but a third of Colorado’s school districts — or 59 of 179 districts — take either Fridays or Mondays off. All of them are rural or mountain communities that serve mostly small communities.
“Our kids are not shorted,” said Scott Vratil, superintendent of the Limon School District, which has had a four-day week for three years.
The district saves about 14 percent in energy and transportation costs every year, he said.
School days are longer, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. — giving the kids the mandated 1,080 hours of annual classroom time.
The district’s 461 students get Fridays off, allowing many of them to participate in athletic events that take them far from their Eastern Plains town.
“If they had a five-day week, I would feel so sorry for them,” Vratil said. “They have games on Friday, games on Saturday and church on Sunday. They need a break.”
In the 1980s, state law was changed to allow districts to reduce the number of days per week — requiring 1,080 hours of instruction every year instead of 180 days.
A statewide review in 2006 showed 2.7 percent of Colorado’s students, or 21,430, were in four-day week districts.
East Grand School District in Granby, with 1,370 students, has had a four-day week for 27 years, established after a budget crisis in 1982 and a mill-levy failure at the polls.
“The reason it has been so successful is the community has stepped up,” Superintendent Nancy Karas said.
Nearby ski areas give free passes to all district students and staff on Fridays. And recreation centers in town offer all-day programs for students.
Karas said she has been receiving phone calls lately from districts around the country asking about the four-day week.
“I think with the state of the economy, districts are looking at it and realize the cost savings,” she said.
Jeremy P. Meyer: 303-954-1367 or jpmeyer@denverpost.com
Proposed 2009-11 cuts
Douglas County School District officials hope to trim about $37 million from the budget. Cuts include:
$10 million to $17 million in overall compensation, pending ongoing negotiations
About $1.49 million from human resources, communications, and business and legal services
$3 million from operations
$3 million from learning services, including training and technical support for teachers
About $11 million from schools’ staffs
