Board changes secondary school hours
Iowa City School Board members voted to change the schedule for secondary schools late Tuesday night.
After Superintendent Lane Plugge announced last week he recommends maintaining the current schedule until at least the 2010-11 school year, the board voted 5-2 in favor of ending the junior-high school day 15 minutes later at 3:30 p.m. and the high-school day at 3:35 p.m. for the 2009-10 school year. The schools will still begin at their current starting times.
The option could cut the number of buses the district uses — from 121 this year to 111 next year. Officials have said the plan will save around $275,000.
“The district recommended we hold off on an option, but I thought this change was the least disruptive,” board member Tim Krumm said. “It doesn’t affect elementary students and it only affects secondary students at the end of the day.”
Krumm, who voted in favor of the change, added the savings were a major factor in his decision. “We’ve tried to do as much as we can without impacting the classroom with the budget cuts,” he said. “It seems to me we have to minimize those cuts as much as possible, and this is another way to do that.”
Board President Toni Cilek, who voted against the option, said the change could be temporary, and officials will explore a more cost-effective option that could be implemented as early as the 2010-11 school year.
“I was concerned about making the change without a little more feedback from our secondary schools as to how they will be affected,” she said. “I appreciate the financial piece, and that is the biggest reason [board members] were interested in the option.”
Cilek said the option does not require any negotiations with the Iowa City Education Association — the bargaining representatives for all teachers within the district — as it does not go outside of their current contracts.
Board members also decided they would postpone approving a plan that would change the positions of librarians at Hills Elementary and Shimek Elementary to a half-time status, while cutting hours and benefits for secretaries at all but six elementary schools — possibly saving the district $158,000.
The board also opted to delay approving a measure to cut six secondary teaching positions and 1.24 elementary positions, which would increase the district’s student-to-teacher ratio by half of a percent.
“We were trying to reach a consensus on the decisions, and some of the board members wanted to review the cuts in more detail,” Cilek said. “We are going to ask for more detailed information because we have gotten extensive feedback about the library cuts.”
Cilek said the board will ask district administrators to look into adjusting secretarial staff to make for fewer cuts in the actual teacher-librarian position.
Cilek said the board will make a final decision on the cuts at its next meeting on May 12.
comments powered by Disqus
