IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers TEXT ME THE ANSWER—Instead of turning in sheets of paper, Simi Valley High School students text message their responses to a lesson review quiz in history teacher Ryan Taggert's class; a projector at the front of their room displays their responses on a bar graph. Like Taggart, teachers throughout the school district are finding new and inventive ways to save on costs. Ryan Taggart flips open the laptop computer and turns on the projector. He dims the lights.

"All right, class, let's review chapter 14," Taggart tells his firstperiod U.S. History students at Simi Valley High School, some of whom are still waking up.

The juniors immediately pull out their cellphones and start dialing—but they're not being disrespectful, they're doing the assignment . . . without paper.

With Simi Valley Unified School District facing budget cuts of $27 million over the next three years, schools are doing whatever they can to save a penny here and a piece of paper there.

Taggart is doing his part by allowing students to use their cellphones for inclass study sessions. Instead of reviewing recent material with endless streams of photocopied paper packets, he uses a program that doesn't cost the district any money.

Free software allows the history teacher to post on his laptop multiple-choice questions, which are then projected onto a screen. Students use their cellphones to text their answers, which are immediately received by Taggart's computer and tallied in a bar graph.

The history teacher came up with the idea of using cellphones after reading an online teaching journal.

Only two students in the firstperiod class don't have cellphones, and Taggart tells them to think of the questions on the review, then asks them for their answers out loud.

Though cuts have affected life on every campus in the district, Simi Valley High Principal Steve Pietrolungo said he can still find a silver lining

"Teachers are making do with what they have without cheating the kids," he said. "They're being creative and thinking outside the box."

Junior Lauren Furs said history is her favorite class, in large part because Taggart incorporates technology with the lessons.

"I love it, I think it's great," Lauren said. "It's so much fun, and it's really different. It's animated and fun, and (Taggart) makes it easy to learn."

The history teacher, who's coached Simi Valley's junior varsity football team for six years, said most of his students enjoy using cellphones in class.

"It's gotten a pretty good response," Taggart said. "At least two-thirds of the class will text. It's an opportunity for me to go over what we missed. Then I can reteach the lessons. It's a good feature, especially for review."

Adjusting to the cuts

Pietrolungo beams at his teacher's creativity, but he said life on campus has already been affected by cost-saving measures.

All purchases, even for basic necessities like paper, pencils and pens, need to be justified. Any extra spending must be for instructional purposes, he said.

"We're watching what we spend. The money's not out there," Pietrolungo said.

Even sports teams are feeling the ripple effect of budget cuts.

The Pioneers' softball team plays its home games at Rancho Santa Susana Park, which is operated by the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District. The park district has told Simi Valley that it can't maintain the fields.

So for home games, Pietrolungo sends a groundskeeper off campus to care for the field.

"That means our campus is neglected for two hours a day and something doesn't get done here," he said.

The district has found other ways to save, including using email instead of paper, cleaning classrooms every other day instead of every night and stressing the importance of recycling. Sports teams have scheduled more fundraisers, including restaurant nights.

In 200910, campus life is expected to change even more dramatically.

Extracurricular activities— which include athletics—will get cut 20 percent.

Twenty-six SVHS teachers, the highest number in any school in the district, received pinks slips. It's not yet known how many will actually be laid off. Pietrolungo said the school doesn't plan to purchase new textbooks next year. Class size will grow at every grade level.

"All these little things add up negatively," the principal said. "It lowers morale, and, mentally, it beats you up."

Classic literature

meets 21st century

Rebecca Itow, an honors English teacher, is in her third year at SVHS. She's looking for ways to make literature fun, while also helping to save supplies and the environment.

When her ninth-grade students read Harper Lee's classic "To Kill a Mockingbird," all the assignments were online.

Students posted work on blogs, created and built up their websites and commented on each other's work. They learned how to make their own PowerPoint presentations and how to do onlinebased research.

Two days before spring break, Itow's students furiously copied projected in-class essay prompts for Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." That saved Itow—and the school— at least 60 pieces of paper.

"We're a paperless and technology-based world," the teacher said. "They need to know there's more out there than just Facebook and MySpace."

After leaving Itow's classroom, Pietrolungo marveled at how she's inspired her students. But then he shakes his head.

Itow was one of the 26 teachers who received a pink slip in March.

"I love a teacher like that," Pietrolungo said, walking back to his office. "We're going to lose a lot of our superstar teachers."