School board puts calendar on hold

The Columbia County school board on Tuesday scrapped the 2010-11 school calendar.

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Previously approved in January, school officials believe the possibility of more teacher furlough days for next school year might force them to alter the calendar anyway.

By ditching the calendar now, educators can warn parents of the change so they know not to plan vacations based on what had been approved.

The board likely will adopt a new calendar in the spring, following the upcoming state legislative session.

During the summer, Gov. Sonny Perdue mandated that educators take three furlough days this semester as a cost-saving measure.

More furloughs are expected next semester as lawmakers will attempt to trim another $700 million from the state budget. Already, Perdue has cut about $900 million.

Because of education cuts, county school officials expect to educate more pupils next school year with fewer teachers.

The school board on Tuesday approved the student and teacher projections in elementary and middle schools for the 2010-11 school year that predicts as many as 287 more pupils will be in those grades.

Those projections also allow for seven fewer teachers.

Including pre-kindergarten figures, nearly 16,200 pupils are expected to attend the county's elementary and middle schools next year, and they will be instructed by about 700 teachers.

The figures are based on using the maximum number of pupils allowed by the state in each class. Up to 20 pupils are allowed in kindergarten classes, 21 in first through third grades and 28 in fourth through eighth grades.

Superintendent Charles Nagle expects that, like this school year, Perdue will increase by two pupils the maximum allowed in each grade level.

"We're trying to make every class as tight as we can," he said.

Nagle said the system could lose as much as $8 million in state funding for next school year. Already the school system has lost $13.8 million in state funding since last school year.

The school system largely compensated for those cuts by increasing class sizes and eliminating 100 positions.

Though the class sizes increased this year, many still did not meet the maximum allowed by the state.

Also at the meeting, the board approved a resolution condemning the taking of funds from local school boards to fund charter schools.

Essentially, the resolution states that because the Georgia Charter Schools Commission, a state agency, creates and operates the schools, that they should be funded using state money.