Budget Cuts Hit Temecula Unified School District

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Dear TVUSD Parents and Guardians,

In recent weeks, the Temecula Valley Unified School District Governing Board has made a number of decisions that will greatly impact our students and our schools. Most of these are a result of the $20-$26 million budget shortfall our district faces. With 2010/11 budget preparations underway, our Governing Board has begun the process of approving reduction measures that will keep our district fiscally solvent.

One significant action, recently approved, is the implementation of Work Year Reduction Days. Since nearly 87% of our expenditures are for salaries and benefits, reducing the work year is one of the few options we have to balance our budget. In efforts to reduce operating costs, our entire school district will close down for nine days between now and the end of the 2010/11 school year. That is, two days this year and seven days next year.

Please note, the Work Year Reduction Days this year are Friday, March 12th and Friday, May 28th. All of our schools, offices and facilities will be closed on these days and students will not attend school. The two Work Year Reduction Days this year as well as the seven days next year are reflected on updated Student/Teacher Calendars posted on the TVUSD web site, www.tvusd.k12.ca.us.

Our employees have agreed to reducing their work years, some by as many as twelve days, saving our district millions of dollars. This collaborative effort, made possible by our employee associations, management team and Governing Board, will allow us to avoid making the type of drastic cuts we all strive to avoid.

In 2010/11, the school year for our students will be reduced from 180 days to 175 days. The work year for our teachers will be reduced from 185 days to 178 days. While the loss of school days is troubling, when faced with making over $20 million in budget reductions our options are few and far between. Reducing employee work years’ will not resolve our budget problems entirely, but it proves to be the best solution to address an extremely difficult situation.

Another action, recently approved, is an adjustment to our school year calendar. In the upcoming 2010/11 school year, you will see a change to our start and end date. The first day of school has been moved up by three days to Wednesday, August 11th. The last day falls on Friday, May 27th, due in part to the reduced school year.

The decision to adjust the school calendar was approved by our Governing Board last year after discussions with teachers regarding semesters at the high school level. By moving the start date up, the first semester will conclude prior to winter break. Currently, students leave for a two-week break, return for a week and then take final exams. Research supports a more cohesive instructional program by taking finals prior to the winter break. The best way to achieve this is to adjust the start of the school year.

Our Governing Board has also approved an agreement to increase class sizes in grades K-12 for the upcoming school year. This is yet another budget reduction measure. The chart below shows our current class sizes and class sizes next year.

Class Sizes: Current Year vs. Upcoming Year

Grade2009/102010/11 
Kindergarten2122 
1st Grade2123 
2nd Grade2125 
3rd Grade2126 
4th – 5th Grade3233 
6th Grade3436 
7th – 8th Grade3638 
9th grade Algebra and English 2436-38 

As a result of this adjustment, our board approved preliminary layoff notices for approximately 160 certificated (teaching) staff. It is our hope that the number of preliminary notices distributed in March will be greatly reduced by the time final layoff notices go out in May.

Additional layoffs will occur in our management and classified ranks.The board is also considering other programmatic reductions to assist in balancing our budget. What is most unfortunate is that all of these budget reductions would not be necessary if not for continued cuts in funding by the state of California.

Please know that we are far from done exploring our options to save jobs. We continue to look for creative ways to retain as many of our teachers and staff as possible. Our Governing Board and I are very proud and grateful for the spirit of collaboration, trust and sacrifice our employees have shown. Often, it is in the face of adversity that we recognize our strength as individuals, as parents and as a community. Much like our employees have banded together, I believe our school community can come together to make it through this difficult year ahead.
I hope you will find inspiration in the incredible achievements our students continue to make each day. Year after year, we see our future generations making tremendous strides in academics, athletics, the arts, and in community involvement. I truly believe we are succeeding in providing options and opportunities for all of our students to achieve.

As a district, we will continue to move forward, realizing that while we may have a steep hill to climb, we will get through it by working together and retaining a sense of optimism for the future.

Sincerely,

Carol A. Leighty, Ed.D.
Superintendent
Temecula Valley Unified School District