3:50pm | An agreement that will shorten the 2010-2011 public school year and could save the district $12 million was tentatively agreed upon by the Long Beach Unified School District and the Teachers Association of Long Beach (TALB) today.
Five furlough days will be enacted next year to bring the number of teaching days to 175, the minimum number allowed by the state.
The move is expected to save about 200 teaching jobs.
“We’re pleased that TALB recognizes the severity of the state’s fiscal crisis and is willing to compromise during these tough times for public schools,” said Christopher J. Steinhauser, superintendent of schools for the Long Beach Unified School District, in a statement.
With massive budget cuts in recent years and more on the horizon, a lengthy process to determine which teachers would be fired and which would keep their jobs had become grueling in recent weeks. The LBUSD board had been set to vote tomorrow on additional teaching cuts.
“While the shorter school year is not ideal, it is part of a fair agreement that helps us to save jobs and protect students and teachers from even deeper cuts to the classroom,” Steinhauser said.
The furlough days will occur on two occasions. One will be a three-day period, from Monday to Wednesday, the week of the Thanksgiving holiday – essentially giving students and teachers the entire week off.
The other will occur on Friday, March 25, 2011 and Monday, March 28, 2011, creating a four-day weekend that Spring.
More to come…