MONROE - Students at Northside Elementary and Monroe Middle School will have a few more minutes in the classroom each day between now and the end of the school year, and two school days will be "forgiven" from the school calendar in order to make up for classroom time lost to the large number of snow days this winter.
The school board Monday approved forgiving two days of classroom instruction from the calendar contracted with the teachers' union. In essence, that means "teachers (will be) paid for two days they aren't teaching," District Administrator Larry Brown said.
Forgiving the two days will allow school to end the year on June 10, with June 11 as an inservice day for teachers. School originally was scheduled to end June 5, with June 6 as an inservice day.
To meet state Department of Public Instruction requirements for minutes of instruction, Northside will add four minutes of instructional time to its day, while the middle school will add seven. The two other elementary schools and Monroe High School will not need to make up instructional time, Brown said. Seniors who graduate June 1 also will not be affected.
The DPI will allow up to five instructional days be waived if schools can still meet the minimum number of instructional minutes, explained Jennifer Thayer, director of curriculum and instruction. Monroe already has two days waived for parent conferences, and a third is allotted for the one inclement day in its calendar. Two days is the maximum the district still can waive, she said.
Staff at Northside and MMS are working on how to add those extra minutes into the day. Possibilities are shortening recess time for Northside or shortening lunch breaks, Brown said. The changes could take effect as early as Wednesday.
Northside school has more recess time than the other elementary schools and kindergarten through second-grade students are released five minutes earlier than older grades, accounting for the difference in time spent in the classroom, Thayer said.
To date, the Monroe school district has had six snow days due to inclement weather. The district has one day built into its calendar. The state Department of Public Instruction requires districts to have 180 instructional days per school year.
But it's not as simple as adding school days on to the end of the school year or cutting spring break short to make up for unforeseen snow days to satisfy the DPI: districts also must get approval from their teachers' unions in order to change the calendar.
Brown brought the proposal to the board after meeting with the Monroe Educational Association. Possible solutions such as school on Saturday or going to school the Monday of spring break were brought up, but "the MEA is not interested in talking about those at this time," he said.
Brown told the board two weeks ago he felt adding minutes to the school day was not the best option. His opinion Monday hadn't changed.
"If you add two minutes before recess ... I'm not confident that's powerful instruction time," he said.
Parents can be another factor in changing the school calendar. But only eight parents contacted him with concerns about making up snow days, Brown said.
Any additional snow days could cause problems. Summer school is scheduled to start Monday, June 16. More snow days to make up could cause summer school to start later or shorten the summer school schedule. But fewer days of summer school would mean less funding from the state for the fewer days, Thayer said. Going past the end of July, when summer school is now scheduled to end, poses problems for custodial work planned for August, she said.
Even as the school board discussed the plan, snow was falling in a winter storm that was expected to dump up to 10 inches on the area Monday and into Tuesday morning. But the storm never developed as forecast, leaving just 3 inches on the ground and causing a winter storm warning to be called off at 9:30 p.m. Monday.
The snow caused school to be delayed two hours Tuesday, but as of press time today, classes were scheduled to continue until the regular release time.
The district might not be so lucky next time, and Brown said forgiving two days provides a little breathing room for the district.
"Hopefully, we'll be ending the school year earlier" than the June 12 date that would be required otherwise.
But if more snow days come, "we're buying two more cushion days," he said.
The school board Monday approved forgiving two days of classroom instruction from the calendar contracted with the teachers' union. In essence, that means "teachers (will be) paid for two days they aren't teaching," District Administrator Larry Brown said.
Forgiving the two days will allow school to end the year on June 10, with June 11 as an inservice day for teachers. School originally was scheduled to end June 5, with June 6 as an inservice day.
To meet state Department of Public Instruction requirements for minutes of instruction, Northside will add four minutes of instructional time to its day, while the middle school will add seven. The two other elementary schools and Monroe High School will not need to make up instructional time, Brown said. Seniors who graduate June 1 also will not be affected.
The DPI will allow up to five instructional days be waived if schools can still meet the minimum number of instructional minutes, explained Jennifer Thayer, director of curriculum and instruction. Monroe already has two days waived for parent conferences, and a third is allotted for the one inclement day in its calendar. Two days is the maximum the district still can waive, she said.
Staff at Northside and MMS are working on how to add those extra minutes into the day. Possibilities are shortening recess time for Northside or shortening lunch breaks, Brown said. The changes could take effect as early as Wednesday.
Northside school has more recess time than the other elementary schools and kindergarten through second-grade students are released five minutes earlier than older grades, accounting for the difference in time spent in the classroom, Thayer said.
To date, the Monroe school district has had six snow days due to inclement weather. The district has one day built into its calendar. The state Department of Public Instruction requires districts to have 180 instructional days per school year.
But it's not as simple as adding school days on to the end of the school year or cutting spring break short to make up for unforeseen snow days to satisfy the DPI: districts also must get approval from their teachers' unions in order to change the calendar.
Brown brought the proposal to the board after meeting with the Monroe Educational Association. Possible solutions such as school on Saturday or going to school the Monday of spring break were brought up, but "the MEA is not interested in talking about those at this time," he said.
Brown told the board two weeks ago he felt adding minutes to the school day was not the best option. His opinion Monday hadn't changed.
"If you add two minutes before recess ... I'm not confident that's powerful instruction time," he said.
Parents can be another factor in changing the school calendar. But only eight parents contacted him with concerns about making up snow days, Brown said.
Any additional snow days could cause problems. Summer school is scheduled to start Monday, June 16. More snow days to make up could cause summer school to start later or shorten the summer school schedule. But fewer days of summer school would mean less funding from the state for the fewer days, Thayer said. Going past the end of July, when summer school is now scheduled to end, poses problems for custodial work planned for August, she said.
Even as the school board discussed the plan, snow was falling in a winter storm that was expected to dump up to 10 inches on the area Monday and into Tuesday morning. But the storm never developed as forecast, leaving just 3 inches on the ground and causing a winter storm warning to be called off at 9:30 p.m. Monday.
The snow caused school to be delayed two hours Tuesday, but as of press time today, classes were scheduled to continue until the regular release time.
The district might not be so lucky next time, and Brown said forgiving two days provides a little breathing room for the district.
"Hopefully, we'll be ending the school year earlier" than the June 12 date that would be required otherwise.
But if more snow days come, "we're buying two more cushion days," he said.