The cuts of state dollars for public education and the expected additional reductions later this year has forced public school systems statewide to be creative with school calendars.
Screven County also plans to tweak its calendar for the upcoming 2010-2011 year as a way of saving its limited funds.
Monday evening the school board tentatively approved a calendar for next year that knocks off five days at the start of the term and five days off at the conclusion. The school year for students would be 170 days instead of the traditional 180.
The BOE members chose to make their decision “tentative” to allow them the opportunity to adjust the calendar days up in number, but probably, if anything, down based on how much state funding will be slashed with the new Georgia budget that is in legislative committees now.
While the board reviewed the appearance of next year’s calendar, the BOE also approved three teacher furlough days that the state required before the end of this term on June 30. The furlough days approved were Jan. 4, March 19 and April 2. Expecting the forthcoming furlough days, teachers already had taken Jan. 4. March 19 was scheduled as a teacher workday and now April 2 will become a student holiday to handle the final furlough date.
Cutting the 2010-2011 year down to 170 days also reduces the number of  days teachers are to be on the job to 180. School officials project this will saving the system $320,000.
The 170-day calendar was one of five options school board members reviewed Monday. The other choices were the traditional 180 days; a 175-day version; a 160-day; and a four-day week.
School officials calculated that a 170-day calendar saved the system the most money.
Superintendent Whit Myers said teachers had a lot of interest in the four-day week, until they were informed how many hours they would be mandated to work from Tuesday through Friday. Each of the four days would be extended by 55 minutes for students. The teachers’ work day would be in excess of nine hours.
“If we went with the traditional 180 days, we would have to fund $480,000 (in payroll), which we don’t have,” Myers said. “We can go down to about 170 days without lengthening the school days for students.”
Myers said the tentative adoption of the 170-day calendar will help guide administration in staffing for next year.
Board member Tom Avret said the severity of some of the other options might be too much for local educators.
“We don’t want any of our teachers to go away,” Avret said.
SCHS principal Brett Warren, SCMS principal Jim Thompson and SCES principal Becky Martin each told board members that the 170-day version received the most support from their teachers.

 Inside the numbers

The Screven County school board agreed to a tenative calendar for the 2010-2011 year. To reduce local spending, the calendar will have 170 days instead of the traditional 180. The 170-day format allows the BOE leeway to make additional adjustments depending on what decisions are made at the state level. The following are points of interest about the new school calendar that takes five days off the start of the year and five days off the end.
* Aug. 9 would be the first day of school for students.
* Sept. 6 -- holiday for Labor Day
* Oct. 11-15 -- Fall Break
* Nov. 22-26 -- Thanksgiving holidays
* Dec. 20-31 -- Christmas holidays
* Jan. 3 -- teacher workday (no school for students)
* Jan. 17 -- Martin Luther King Jr. holiday
* Feb. 21-25 -- Winter Break
* March 18 -- teacher workday
* April 4-8 -- Spring Break
* May 13 -- teacher workday
* May 20 -- last day of school for students