320 likes | 489 Views
VICTOR SCHOOL FOUR DAY SCHOOL WEEK 2006-2007. Prepared by Luanne Bauman, District Clerk. CONTACT INFORMATION. LUANNE BAUMAN 425 4 TH AVE VICTOR, MT 59875 406-642-3221 Ext. 264 bauman@victor.k12.mt.us. SPECIFIC DEMOGRAPHICS OF VICTOR SCHOOL DISTRICT #7. Large Class “C” School
E N D
VICTOR SCHOOL FOUR DAY SCHOOL WEEK 2006-2007 Prepared by Luanne Bauman, District Clerk
CONTACT INFORMATION LUANNE BAUMAN 425 4TH AVE VICTOR, MT 59875 406-642-3221 Ext. 264 bauman@victor.k12.mt.us
SPECIFIC DEMOGRAPHICS OF VICTOR SCHOOL DISTRICT #7 • Large Class “C” School • 342 Total Students, 129 in High School • Our students participate in most events
SPECIFIC DEMOGRAPHICS OF VICTOR SCHOOL DISTRICT #7 • 2 Administrators, 27 Certified Staff, 22 Classified Support Staff • Shared staff – so block scheduling is not an option • Classifieds are not unionized
SPECIFIC DEMOGRAPHICS OF VICTOR SCHOOL DISTRICT #7 • Small district, distance wise • Four bus routes, the longest being 23.5 miles • Student population tends to move in and out easily • Three Class A schools within 15 miles
OUR SCHOOL DAY • Teacher Time Begins 7:45 am • Warning Bell 8:10 am • 1st Period Begins 8:15 am • Class periods average 62 minutes • 7th Period Ends 4:15 pm • Teacher Time Ends 4:45 pm
OUR SCHOOL DAY • 145 student days • Teachers can opt for flex time (exchange time to end of day or to beginning) • No early outs • Teachers have a very productive in-service on Friday mornings about once a month
OUR SCHOOL DAY • One week for spring break • School begins the Tuesday after Labor Day • School ends June 11th
PUBLIC CONCERNS • Items of concern that were raised from public meetings: • Increased vandalism at school and in the community • What are the children going to do on Friday? • Decrease in enrollment • Too long of a day for younger students • Grades will suffer (quality of education) • Will not get through curriculum
VICTOR SCHOOL GOALS • HAVE ESTABLISHED GOALS • Increase Attendance • Increase Class Time • Increase or Maintain Test Scores • Reduce Substitutes and Associated Costs • Reduce Utility Costs • Reduce Transportation Costs • Boost Morale
DO’S AND DON’TS • Publish in the local newspaper the dates of any public input needed and the final decision. Most newspapers will be happy to write a few articles prior to the fact for you.
DO’S AND DON’TS • Do some leg work for working parents of elementary children. Make a list of all daycare providers in your area. If you don’t have any - work with churches, youth groups, service groups, Kids First, etc. This will be one of your biggest issues and one of the hardest to overcome and answer.
DO’S AND DON’TS • Plan early. Start the process at least 1-2 years before the time of change. What you are doing now does count. • Make sure your board meeting agendas explain the topic well, so the district membership and community can understand.
DO’S AND DON’TS • Newsletters, flyers to students, surveys, the more information out there the better. TV and radio spots, if available.
DO’ AND DON’TS • State specifically why you are doing this. Don’t expect too much as far as saving money. Yes, that is a big reason, but you don’t save a flat 20%. • Be careful about talking too much regarding athletics. Elementary parents don’t want to hear about this.
DO’S AND DON’TS • Have a class do a report on the impact before (Pros and Cons) the switch and after the fact (How this has impacted the students). This is important to let the students have a say in this too. It’s great PR. We had our senior writing class do this. Very beneficial to document how this is affecting our student body.
DO’S AND DON’TS • Remember to change all wording in contracts, handbooks, collective bargaining agreements, travel specifications, any document that states days.
DO’S AND DON’TS • Think how this will impact your classified employees too. You want to keep morale positive.
DO’S AND DON’TS • Plan your school calendar early, this is a bigger issue than you think.
DO’S AND DON’TS • Plan your athletic calendar early. We sort of did, but not fully, mainly because the calendars were set up almost a full year in advance. • All sports on Thursday, Friday and Saturday • Exception is JV Football is still on Mondays • Combine games as much as possible (Middle School Football before Varsity games)
RESULTS SO FAR • Did decrease parental excused absences • Did not really reduce classified wages • Field trip time was usually Friday – now we don’t have an “extra day” • Reduced our ability to feed our needy students one day
RESULTS SO FAR • Did reduce custodial contractual labor by 50% • Did bring our classified starting wages and benefits up and made them attractive to prospective applicants. • Did reduce food costs by 16%
RESULTS SO FAR • District is providing snacks for grades 1-5, which seems to be a tremendous asset for academics and discipline. An addition to our budget though. • Teachers state that they are ahead of curriculum at all age levels
RESULTS SO FAR • Criminal activity has decreased by 50% on Fridays during school hours. • Suspicious activity had remained the same on Fridays during school hours.
RESULTS SO FAR • We increased classified wages an average of 20% • Provided full health insurance for classifieds working over 50% FTE • Remember to work around schedules to utilize the custodian staff. Ours still work 5 eight hour days.
RESULTS SO FAR • Did reduce our transportation costs immediately by 12%
UNEXPECTED RESULTS • Enrollment increased 7%, which 2% was documented direct result of the 4 day school week • Discipline referrals, detention, ISS and OSS has been reduced by 40% • Absences from school related activities went down 80% • GPA’s have not been affected so far
GOALS MET OR NOT • Increased attendance • Increased class time • We improved our test scores - made AYP • Has reduced substitute teachers & associated costs by 16% • Has reduced utilities costs by 24% • Has reduced transportation costs by 12% • Has boosted staff morale
WAS IT WORTH THE HASSLE? • Not sure – still early yet! • Staff (certified and classified) are quite happy with the schedule • Middle school and high school students are happy with it, but want to add a nutrition break into the day
WAS IT WORTH THE HASSLE? • Really need five years of data to compare • Some elementary parents are still disagreeing over the new schedule • You will never make everyone happy!
THINGS WE MAY CHANGE FOR FY08 • Develop a plan to regulate field trips, assemblies, and other activities that are disruptive during the school day. • Utilize staff better. Almost had to live through it, to understand the needs. Have teachers cover detention, individual student needs. • Try to schedule extra-curricular activities on Thursday, Friday and Saturday