The Baldwin County Board of Education passed a resolution Sept. 17, that could enable schools Superintendent Faron Hollinger to lobby at the state level for a shorter school year for the county’s teachers.

The resolution, which passed unanimously, authorizes the superintendent “to execute and publish a resolution, in form, as approved by the superintendent in support of a reduced school year.”

The affected days, Hollinger said, would involve staff development days where schools are required to be open but where students are not present.

“Schools are required by law to be open 185 days a year,” he said. “There are five of those days that are dedicated to teacher work days and staff development that do not even affect student attendance. So I think what we would obviously prefer at this juncture is to look at what kind of cost reduction would be affected by reducing those five days.

“If the economic conditions continue to worsen, there might be a desire to go and look at taking some of those operational days out that involve students.”

The move would be another cost-cutting measure for a school system that has taken drastic steps in recent months to shave spending, including freezing step raises, firing more than 400 employees and cutting spending on extracurricular supplies and fuel.

With funds from the local and state levels drastically lower due to drops in property and ad valorem taxes, the 2010 budget for Baldwin County Schools is more than $75 million less than in 2009.

The Board tabled a resolution Thursday that would enable the system to seek up to $35 million in cash-flow loans over the next year. The loans would be based on expected income, Communications Director Terry Wilhite said, and would serve as a “stopgap” to pay salaries and expenses while the system waited on income to come in.

Final agreements on the loan had not been agreed upon at the time of the meeting, Hollinger said. A special called session to approve the motion could come before the end of the month.

“(Baldwin County Schools’ attorneys) anticipate as soon as the Board approves it that they would be able to close (the loan) the first week of October,” he said.

Other items of business passed at the Board meeting included approval for the Foley High School band to travel to San Antonio, Texas on April 13-17 to participate in the Fiesta Flambeau Parade and for a senior class trip for Spanish Fort High School aboard the Carnival “Fantasy” over Spring Break, April 10-15.

The Board also rescinded the terminations of six county itinerant nurses and two ESL translators and approved contracts for two Behavioral Consultants who will work with autistic and special education students.