Members of the Joint School Committee appeared receptive to the addition of eight early release days for Tri-Town schools during the 2015/2016 school year, but opted to hold off on a vote until the May meeting to give the Rochester School Committee a chance to formally discuss the calendar. The March Rochester School Committee was canceled due to a snowstorm.
Superintendent Doug White briefed joint committee members on the proposed calendar, saying the only change to the next year would be the addition of the eight professional development early release days.
Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum Elise Frangos said, although last year half days were decreased to provide for more uninterrupted learning weeks, the need for professional development for teachers has not been met. With the district at one of the lowest in the state for PD hours, only 12 hours as compared to Bourne’s 32 hours, Wareham’s 20, and even Concord’s 90 hours, the additional 16 hours are critical for district initiative implementation and collaboration amongst educators.
“Traditionally, we have had two big days of professional development,” said Frangos. “Teachers have told us … we have great speakers, but we have very little time for follow-up.” Frangos said the early release days would provide time to spend focusing on student work and following up on material learned from guest speaker presentations.
“That time is very precious,” said Frangos. “It’s sorely needed … so these would be very valued, precious segments of time.”
Frangos also talked about “vertical teaming” between grade six teachers and grades seven and eight teachers for the sake of the students’ transition to junior high.
“Last year, we built the calendars and we really thought about the continuation of learning for children,” White said. “We started to realize what kind of things were not happening for our educators,” which is why administration was asking to change back to more early release days.
“As a whole, we are very receptive to adding the time to the calendar,” said Marion School Committee member Christine Winters.
Some concerned committee members also wanted to delay the vote so they could assess school attendance on Good Friday on April 3.
Good Friday, despite some public outcry, was taken off the calendar’s list of days off for students last year. Mattapoisett School Committee Chairman James Higgins was the first to bring up the topic of Good Friday, saying he felt compelled to bring up the subject based on the feedback he received from some of his constituents, “the people who pay for these schools,” as Higgins put it.
Although White said he was hoping the committee would approve the school calendar sooner rather than later, he pointed out that last year the committee did not approve the 2014/2015 school year calendar until June.
The next meeting of the Joint School Committee is scheduled for May 14 at 6:30 pm in the junior high school media room.
By Jean Perry
