Last day of school comes two weeks after start

The three-dimensional, paper tree stretches from the floor of Brian Boyce's classroom at Petaluma's McNear Elementary School, up the wall and out over the bookcase and chairs, so its thick branches dangle just above his head.

Green construction paper handprints of 22 second-graders are affixed to the branches, but the red paper apples, upon which Boyce's students wrote their goals for the school year, sit in a stack on a classroom table.

Boyce, flipping through apples that read “Be a better reader” and “Make friends,” never had a chance to hang them up.

Friday marks Boyce's final day at McNear. He was told last week that a dip in the school's anticipated enrollment meant his position at the school wasn't warranted.

“Two weeks into school, to find out I'm no longer needed, this classroom is no longer needed, totally blindsided me,” an emotional Boyce said.

Staffing shifts and the movement of students from one teacher to another in the first three weeks of school after enrollment numbers are finalized are not new in Petaluma or other Sonoma County districts.

What is new this year is the lack of funds on hand to keep teachers aboard in smaller class sizes when the enrollment numbers don't stack up as expected.

McNear Elementary lost Boyce this week, and McDowell and Grant elementary schools each lost one teacher. A layoff of an additional teacher at those schools was prevented after an agreement was reached between the district and the teachers union over a student count that was close to estimates.

Valley Vista also was in danger of losing a teacher but was able to retain its lineup because enrollment numbers were close to expectations.

Courses also are being adjusted at Petaluma and Casa Grande high schools to reflect enrollment.

“We have had that cushion and been able to be more flexible in the past,” Deputy Superintendent Steve Bolman said.

The district's three-year budget includes spending down a reserve that was at about $8 million two years ago and is now projected to be about $700,000 in 2011-2012, Bolman said.

In addition to digging into its reserve, the district has made significant cuts.

Before the start of the school year Aug. 19, 10 teaching positions in grades four through 12 and four positions in kindergarten through third were eliminated, three staff development days were cut — meaning a 1.6 percent cut in teacher pay — and bus service was slashed.

The district also cut two counselors who dealt with emotional and behavioral issues with students. That task now will fall to academic counselors who will see their student load increase from 350 to 500 students in junior high and from 300 to 400 in high school.

“This is a year where we don't have extra resources. We just cut over $5 million, we have to staff according to our ratios,” said Petaluma Superintendent Greta Viguie.

Petaluma is not alone. When nearly 220 fewer students than expected turned up at Santa Rosa City Schools this month, the district immediately faced an additional $1.1 million budget hit in the loss of anticipated per-pupil funding.

In Santa Rosa, officials had expected a decline of 86 students, but 216 fewer kids showed up on the first day of school Aug. 17. While high schools are having to add and take away class sections, no teachers in either primary or secondary campuses will lose their jobs, said Associate Superintendent Doug Bower.

While adjustments after the start of the school year are not uncommon, the shifting this year has been “quite minimal,” Bower said.

Cotati-Rohnert Park, the county's third-largest district, does not have its final first semester figures because its school year did not start until Aug. 27.

Petaluma teachers' union president Ted Russo credited the district and the teachers' group for saving three teaching jobs at McDowell, Grant and Valley Vista this week where student numbers were just shy of agreed upon staffing ratios.

“Certainly the district would have been within their rights, in the agreed upon contractual ratio, and they would have been correct. But we don't operate that way in Petaluma,” he said. “This is not just about numbers, it's about kids and it's about teachers. It's a horrible situation to be in.”

“No one is happy with what happened, but you have to be fiscally responsible,” Russo said.

The district had estimated 40 additional students would join McNear, the popular Sunnyslope Avenue campus that for years has met all attendance expectation. Only 23 new pupils showed up over the first 10 days.

Cutting Boyce's class means his 22 second-graders will be placed into another classroom, with another teacher and possibly a combination grade configuration when school resumes Tuesday after Labor Day.

“More than just Mr. Boyce and other second-grade classes will be affected,” said first-year McNear Principal Jason Sutter. “We are going to try to avoid combinations. We are looking at configurations that will be optimal for students and allow teachers to teach the very best that we can.”

That is little comfort for Mark McGowan, whose son, Charlie, is in Boyce's class.

“We think it's completely irresponsible,” he said. “They could have had contingencies available where they didn't disrupt the kids' lives and the teacher's life.”

“Mr. Boyce is an exceptional teacher; we can all tell it,” he said. “There is no room for allowing exceptional new teachers into the system. It's completely based on seniority, and he has the least amount of seniority.”

“We're not done,” McGowan said, adding that parents are rallying to fight the district's removal of Boyce.

In just two weeks in Boyce's class, parent Jennifer Dunbar said she saw a change in her son.

“He comes home singing a new song every day, and he's never done that before,” she said.

Boyce, who sings with his students every day, has a guitar hanging from the wall and a donated piano in the corner. An array of exotic-looking drums, rattles and thumb pianos sit within students' reach.

The classroom TV is papered over with a hand-made volume meter that he adjusts according to the expected and actual noise in the room.

“It's my passion, it's my calling,” the second-year instructor said of teaching, noting that today will likely be emotional for him as well as his students.

“I'm hoping we can have some closure,” he said. “There are going to be a lot of tears.”