School year starts with bigger classes, reduced resources Learning Process

School year starts with bigger classes, reduced resources

Written on August 21, 2010 – 10:51 am | by Justin Fraser

School is back in session in most local districts, and students and staff are noticing big changes.

Last year, public school districts started the year with fewer teachers, bigger classes and reduced resources.

This year, it’s worse.

Classes of 30-plus students are now commonplace in Sacramento-area schools, as districts have laid off teachers to balance deflated budgets.

Many students are starting the year with little or no access to a library or school bus. There are fewer nurses, counselors and administrators. And sports, music, art, shop and other programs have become luxuries some districts simply can’t afford. Most students will attend school for fewer days and could be on an entirely different calendar.

Here is a sampling of this year’s school changes:

School libraries cut back

Principal Michelle Jenkins spends her mornings in the Elitha Donner Elementary library in Elk Grove shelving books. In the afternoon, she checks them out for students. Most evenings she brings home books that need repair.

She is an example of how administrators throughout the region are trying to make it work without librarians.

Local school districts have closed libraries, laid off staff or drastically cut back hours to balance budgets.

Elk Grove Unified laid off all its elementary school library technicians at the end of the last school year but was able to hire some back with federal money at Title I schools, which serve large numbers of low-income students. In May, Natomas Unified closed all eight of its elementary school libraries. In Folsom Cordova Unified, library hours have been cut back to two days a week at secondary schools and one day a week at elementary schools.

This year, students at Elitha Donner can no longer drop into the library before or after school or during recess. They go there with their teacher about once every two weeks, said Kevin Broxton, a fifth-grade teacher.

When they visit, they pick a book, insert their student ID between the pages and stick it in a bin. Jenkins carves out time to check out the books and deliver them. “It’s a different library experience,” she said. “We strive for an ‘A.’ This experience is a ‘C.’ “

Class sizes grow

Susan Basham pulled her daughter out of Carl Sundahl Elementary School in Folsom Cordova Unified at the end of the last school year and put her in a private school.

“Why in the world would I choose a school with 40 kids in the class and no electives over a school with 20 kids and 11 electives?” Basham told The Bee on Wednesday.

She had already taken her son out of Sacramento City Unified’s prized Sutter Middle School at the end of the previous semester.

“I think budget cuts are in place, yes, and that’s unfortunate,” Basham said. “Even at private schools, things are tight. As a parent you must decide where the best place is for my child that you can afford. It’s an individual choice for each family.”

Folsom Cordova Unified has increased class sizes in first and second grades this year, from 25 to 30. It already had averages of 32 in kindergarten, 30 in third grade and 34 in fourth and fifth grades.

The Natomas Unified School District has increased class sizes in primary grades by 50 percent in three years, going from 20 students in 2008-09 to 30 students this school year. Now it is asking the state to allow it to squeeze even more students into classrooms.

Elk Grove increased its average class size from 20 to 24 in grades K-3, and from 26 to 28 in fourth through sixth grades.

School nurses take a hit

School nurses, once a mainstay, are becoming as uncommon as a yellow school bus.

The number of credentialed registered nurses serving Sacramento County’s 238,000 schoolchildren dwindled from 131 in 2003 to 101 this year.

Each of the county’s school nurses is responsible, on average, for about 2,350 students, about 600 more than they oversaw in 2003, according to state data. The National Association of School Nurses says the ideal ratio is 1 to 750.

Nurses now travel between schools offering guidance to staff and health screenings.

Federal and state laws require that public schools use nurses for health care, including testing although neither allocates money specifically for them.

The result: Screenings that routinely include hearing and vision checks are less frequent, local officials said.

The county’s largest school district, Elk Grove Unified, has one credentialed registered nurse for every 4,782 students, according to state reports. Natomas Unified averages one nurse for every 4,062 students, and Twin Rivers Unified supplies one nurse for every 2,811 students.

Students pay to play

Athletics were also hit by budget cuts, with many school districts instituting a pay-to-play athletic model in order to make ends meet.

Elk Grove Unified began asking student athletes this summer for a $125 donation to play one sport, $100 for a second sport and $75 for a third sport.

While the donations are voluntary, the district has emphasized that a $900,00 cut to athletics makes it necessary for students to participate.

Other districts began asking for donations last fall, such as Roseville Joint Union High School District, which has the same pay scale as Elk Grove.

“There are a lot of changes this year,” said Jeff Caton, athletic director at Pleasant Grove High School.

Besides the fee, Elk Grove Unified cut freshman sports teams, meaning ninth-graders in the five sports fielding teams will play junior varsity.

But the athletic fee seems to be receiving the biggest pushback. Caton said his school is doing better than its counterparts, though only 12 percent of students paid the fee.

“Some schools are nowhere near that,” Caton said. “We need to raise a lot more than that. Hopefully, it gets better.”

School calendars adjusted

Many Folsom Cordova Unified high school seniors will end their school days earlier this year.

The district reduced electives to cut costs and is asking seniors to take courses online, at colleges and through the Regional Occupational Program. They also are encouraging internships instead of on-campus classes.

The cost cutting does not include students who need credits to graduate or who are trying to complete college entrance requirements, says a recent letter from the district.

“It is optional,” said JoAnne Reinking, a school board member and parent of a student at Vista del Lago.

The Natomas Unified School District board voted to shorten the day for juniors and seniors who are not behind in credits, as well as to cut five school days from the year for all students.

These kinds of cuts as well as a move from year-round calendars to traditional have families around the region juggling their schedules.

This is the last year Natomas will have schools on a year-round calendar, leaving Elk Grove as the only district with year-round schools. But even Elk Grove is making the switch at some schools. It moved three schools from year-round to traditional schedules last year. This year, 12 elementary schools were converted to a modified traditional calendars.

Supplies shrinking

Teachers turned to websites and coupons this year in order to supply their classrooms with needed materials, such as pens, markers and paper.

“This year, and the last few years, basic supplies have been dwindling,” said Carlos Rico, a fifth-grade teacher at Ethel Phillips Elementary in Sacramento City Unified.

Rico said he has already spent $250 for classroom supplies so the kids he teaches will have binder paper, pencils, folders and crayons. Like many area teachers, Rico took a pay cut this year.

For the trimester, Rico’s school gives him a $125 classroom budget, but that can’t be stretched far enough. With Ethel Phillips being a high-poverty school, Rico said it doesn’t feel right asking struggling parents to provide what a tax-payer supported school should be able to.

“A lot of parents don’t have jobs or have two jobs,” he said. “To take money from them feels wrong.”

Oak Ridge Elementary School teacher Alice Mercer is using the website DonorsChoose.org to try to fund the purchase of a camcorder and webcam. Her hope is to use the webcam to connect with faraway classrooms.

DonorsChoose provides teachers a chance to publicize classroom projects, and people can log on to donate.

Golden Empire Elementary School partnered with retailer Office Max for a Teacher and Student Appreciation Night on Friday. The promotion gave teachers coupons for discounted items like 1 cent glue, pens and pencils.

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