Healdsburg schools likely to cut six days

With Gov. Jerry Brown failing in his efforts to extend fees that would generate money for schools, Healdsburg Unified School District board is expected to vote Wednesday night on a series of economies to make up a $700,000 budget gap.

According to HUSD Superintendent Jeff Harding, those economies likely would include cutting six school days out of the 2011-12 calendar and keeping class sizes at their 10 percent larger status.

"It would be five student days and one staff work day," Harding said of the potential calendar shortening.

Harding did not mention program cuts and/or layoffs as a added possibility. However, the school board to a total of 3.86 in full-time-equivalent teaching jobs -- placeholders that were said at the time would only go into effect if the district failed to receive needed money, as has happened.

Of the economies, only the new school calendar is listed in Wednesday night's board agenda. It was not immediately clear if all or any of the cost-cutting measures would be approved Wednesday night at the meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m. at band room, 1024 Prince St.

Wednesday night's potential actions come as the district is in the midst of a series of upgrades and potential renovations to its school buildings -- including the opening this summer of a $200,000, 4,000-square-foot district office suite in the former

"The fact that we already owned this building means this project will be $1 million less expensive than the second best option we had identified," Harding said. Existing district offices have been in makeshift temporary trailers, without indoor plumbing or bathrooms, for the last nine years and were cold in the winter and without air conditioning in the summer in some rooms, he said.

About 14 employees are located in the district offices, Harding said

"A lot of the terraces are rotting in these buildings," Harding said. "These [trailers] were supposed to be here one year -- it's been nine years."

In a related matter, Harding said the school board will decide Wednesday whether to ask voters to approve a plan next year to extend debt repayment on existing school bonds to generate money for new capital construction.

Tops in the list of crucial capital construction items are new buildings for the Marce Beccerra alternative school, which is also housed in temporary trailers on the Healdsburg High School campus. New science labs at are also on the list.

Harding said 55 percent of district voters would need to approve the bond debt repayment schedule extension.  No rise in school district taxes would result if the debt repayment extension were approved, Harding said.

The district has also contracted with Sebastopol architect Cindy Ketelsen to  "close-out"  missing paperwork files in the smore than eight HUSD school buildings.

found in a series of stories continuing this month that thousands of school buildings lacked final state certification for seismic safety.  California Watch reporters and editors said there was no way to know if the thousands of buildings were simply missing construction paperwork or if the

In the case of Healdsburg schools, some of which were built less than three years ago, Harding said the state's Department of State Architects database was missing paperwork that had nothing to do with school safety.

For example, one of the school buildings listed with incomplete seismic certification in the state database had been demolished more than three years ago and was replaced with new construction. Harding said all school construction was done in strict accordance with earthquake safety standards.

"In an earthquake, I would want to be in a newly constructed school," Harding said. "Those are the safest buildings in town."