A decision on whether Juneau School District students will get spring break next year is expected to take place in February, with little indication which way the school board will go.
The board of education met Tuesday night to see a first-reading on next year’s school calendar. It is presented with two options with one distinct difference — spring break in March, or no spring break, ending school a week earlier in the summer. One of the reasons the calendar committee decided to give two options, leaning toward a no-spring break option, is because of the Alaska Standard’s Based Assessments. Because the committee tried to make each semester about the same amount of days, as it usually does, the way spring break fell near the tests it would mean a break right before tests. If there is no spring break, that means students will have a full week of instruction prior to test-taking.
Board member Kim Poole asked what the feeling is from feedback received so far on the spring break option. She said her opinion would probably favor doing without, as she also is in favor of year-round school, but also pointed out that in the first semester alone students have three full weeks of breaks — but after that there is no relief until the end of the school year.
“How did the committee feel, what’s the thought about how the kids and teachers will do with having such a long stretch with no psychological carrot out there of, ‘we’re going to get a week off soon?’” she asked.
Assistant Superintendent Laury Scandling said the committee was divided, but both sides could “live with” the other option, but not necessarily with enthusiasm.
“You can imagine the kind of feedback we received at the committee,” Scandling said. “We are conditioned psychologically to have a break. It says in our regulations we will have a one week spring break. We tried it in a number of ways, extended weekend Friday through Monday. There is recognition of the merit of preserving the educational week. There also is merit in the doldrums both in children and adults. In general we agreed we’d put the option out there.”
The nine-member committee also tried to keep as many five-day instructional weeks as possible — which translates to 31 weeks next year. This year there are 28 five-day instructional weeks. The same number of overall instructional days are planned at 171 — sort of. This year there were 172 planned, however one was cancelled due to snow. The state requires no fewer than 180 school days and no fewer than 170 student instructional days per year.
Another key change, regardless of the spring break decision, is when different levels of students have no school for conferences. Elementary and middle schools have differing parent-teacher conference days, leading some students to have no school, while others do. The district has found that when elementary school students have off, middle school students tend to have a high rate of absenteeism. Scandling said they believe it’s because parents have asked older siblings to stay home and watch the younger siblings.
Based on absentee data and parent confusion, the committee decided that if one level of schools has conferences, other levels will have teacher in-service days so that all students are out at the same time.
Early Release Monday’s are on hold until a McDowell survey of teaching staff is complete and results are in. The Juneau Education Association and the district are splitting the cost. Scandling said there are many teachers who have come to appreciate the collaboration time and value it, while others still would rather have the time to themselves to prepare for classes.
Scandling also pointed out that one other issue with cutting spring break is the Gold Medal tournament.
“It uses one facility, we’re in it (Juneau-Douglas High School),” she said. “When that event happens at this facility while school is still functioning its quite disruptive, and I mean that in a positive way.”
Scandling said that Gold Medal is a community and cultural event that families are extensively involved in, and the spirit and excitement around the schools are high.
Scandling said she spoke with the event coordinator and the realities of scheduling of the athletes basically means the only time the event will work is the third week of March — when spring break would occur.
Amy Jo Meiners, a teacher at Auke Bay Elementary and a parent of a middle school and high school student, said that Gold Medal is a family event and just because school is in session during Gold Medal — as it apparently has happened sometimes in the past — doesn’t mean students will be in attendance.
Meiners also urged the board to consider keeping that break for high school students, as it is an opportunity for them to visit colleges or trade schools without having to miss class. It’s also an option for them to participate in band, choir or other after-school activities’ special events without missing class.
Poole also asked Scandling if year-round school was discussed in committee.
Scandling said that was the first topic they talked about.
She said the advantage is longer breaks throughout the year, but more consistent education as well. Scandling said the district is focusing on meaningful and excellent instruction.
“The timing is not right,” she said. “We don’t have the capacity to deal with that right now.”
The board will take on a final reading of the calendar at it's February meeting. The final reading is when it typically makes a decision. Feedback is being received at calendar@jsd.k12.ak.us throughout this month.
• Contact reporter Sarah Day at 523-2279 or at sarah.day@juneauempire.com.
Comments (30)
Add commentno psychological carrot
Gee it would be nice to only work 9 months and have what 3 to 4 weeks off during that time? How about a “psychological carrot “out there for the normal worker?? We get 11 days off a year without taking leave time that is what two weeks but only one day at a time. I understand that working with kids is hard. I also do that but just not for the school. But I don't get those types of “psychological breaks". And for most of us those times make is very hard to find day care etc. so we end up taking leave time so the school can have a “psychological brake". It seems that school is not like it use to be more off time that on??
Another week off for teachers.
Why does it sound like the district wants to cram the students with the test key to raise their own rankings? Anything for another day off. Early release May.
I would encourage anyone with
I would encourage anyone with complaints about the rationale behind the process to attend the school board meetings or join the calendar committee to understand and address your concerns. Complaining about things with being proactive or involved achieves nothing and leads to misconceptions. It has nothing to do with teachers wanting to get off earlier in the summer or inflate test scores, but rather how to maximize our students ability and success.
Agree with Kim Poole
We should have year round school. Long break in December and July. Teachers work a regular 8 hour day starting 30 minutes prior to the school day. Time after the kids leave is paid time for parent contact, lesson planning, collaboration, and grading papers - no need to take that work home any more. Top end salary for the district is around 75 thousand - which is a reasonable salary for a year-round job.
I get the idea that if kids are coming back from vacation prior to an exam, it takes a while for them to calm down again, and that might be disruptive. But the whole 'teaching to the test' idea, or the notion that they need that week to focus on the test is pure BS. The SBAs are merely testing the standards kids should be taught that year anyway. If in 4th grade a kid should learn multiplication, and the test has questions like "what is 4x4=?" then OF COURSE we are "teaching to the test" we should be doing that all year! The test contains the standards kids should be learning - not something new or extra.
Take a sample SBA yourself - I did a quick search, and you can find them here: http://www.eed.state.ak.us/tls/assessment/SBA_ItemSamplers.html
empire - come on!`
Why can I post on some threads but not others?
It's About Kids
Why do some people continue to think that the teachers are writing this calendar?
The parent I know on the committee spent nights working on this calendar and spent her valuable time talking about what was best for KIDS, not what was best for adults. The committee is made up of parents, teachers, support staff, and district office staff. If you hate it so much, why don't you be on the committee next year - then you can see that it's a hard job.
The idea of spring break is to give STUDENTS a break; they are young, growing people. But also they're being tested. It's a big deal to decide what is best... to give them a break or push through. The workers will deal with whichever way it goes; that's what adults do... We should be thinking about what is best for our kids. Period. I personally am on the fence about what I want my kids to do. I think it wouldbe hard to go the whole time without a break, but they never have before so who knows.
People always complain about the calendar, every year.
Spring Break
No spring break? Hmm. That was always something very much looked fwd to by me and my school mates while growing up. That's when my Dad and our whole Family went to Florida for spring break. I need to hear more on this matter. Not sure I see the benefit of taking this from the kids.
And as for the workers (faculty and staff), to heck with them. They get the summer off anyway. I don't get that. I don't get ANY paid vacation days off. I work year round in order to take care of my family and my mortgage. So, you all have NO sympathy from me on that count. Yes, the break is for the KIDS, and not the "workers..."
What makes anyone think that
going to the meetings and voicing your opinion will make one iota of difference in the School Board's decision. When the JSD was exploring the schedule change a few years ago, there was much public input, overwhelmingly against this action. Yet the Board made it's decision based on a 'phone survey. Funny thing about that survey, of the 40-45 other parents that I spoke with afterwards, 0% of them had partcipated, or knew anyone who had.
Sorry, but the School Board is going to make the decision that most benefits the School Board, and that means test scores.
The Board really doesn't care
The Board really doesn't care what the public thinks. The teacher's association rules.
I think we need to quit stroking these educators and tell them in so many words to quit whining about everything. Notice how many greviences they have - if it's not enough money, it's that they don't have enough time to prepare and blah, blah, blah. If they can't handle the job of teaching a room full of kids, which by the way, they supposedly have been trained to do, then get out of the profession. There are lots of "professionals" that would love to have the job.
As a taxpayer, I'm getting tired of all the angst always swirling around our education system. It never used to be this way. In my opinion the teacher's unions have gotten so powerful that they carry all the decision making weight. Cities and towns now bow to them.
Isn't another big complaint of teachers that summer vacation is too long and they have to spend so much time reviewing with the kids in September? Well, let's make summer vacation longer - does that make sense?
I don't know what the answer is but the public is tired of shovelling money at a failed system and never getting any good news or acceptable results.
Seriously, is privatization the answer again? Government is proving to be a dismal failure when it comes to educating our kids.
Okay, fire away...I know these views aren't popular.
Calypso
You're starting to catch on! Your views aren't correct, either. Privatization either means for-profit entities, or government subsidies. So then you either have a system that places more emphasis on profit making than education, or a system that costs the government an arm and a leg. Does that sound like a good idea? Maybe to someone who wasn't educated properly.
There are no examples of successful private education systems. Individual schools, yes (because only the well-off tend to go to private school), but not national education systems. The most successful school systems, in fact, are the most tightly controlled ones. Look at Finland. Germany. Japan. Norway. They all have excellent school systems that are very "socialist."
get ready for a shock, calypso.....
But I actually agree with you on some points. I don't think we come at it for the same reasons - for example I don't think teacher's unions are responsible for the differences in the education system and how well kids are doing now as compared with 50 years ago (I think it has a lot more to do with the lack of parenting in general in this country, at least as far as the behavior of kids in class, the ability of a teacher to teach and not parent, and schoolwork being valued and adressed at home goes)
If kids do not have structure and stability at home, and kids are having to remediate after summer because they aren't reading or doing anything constructive with their summers, and kids are not meeting minimum expectations - like being able to read at grade level - - then I think the answer is to have a longer school year, not a shorter one. Build in 'office' time for teachers to do all the stuff they complain about having to do on Saturdays or at night, and erase that problem; give teachers more time to teach, shorten summer vacation, and give the kids a break at Christmas and in April. 3 months of school (Sept, Oct, Nov) - 3-week break, 3 months of school (Jan, Feb, Mar) - 3 week break, 3 months of school (May, June, July) 3 week break. Inservice days and professional development take place during the times kids are on break. People will re-adjust their family trips.
I'm personally on the fence
I'm personally on the fence about spring break. We don't go anywhere and my children don't particularly care about it either. They'd rather start school earlier in August and get out earlier in May if they could. Our whole family also supports year-round school with a longer Christmas and spring break and a month in the summer.
The time change was a trial basis. It was not set in stone. I think that some of you will find that it may disappear.
I am not on the school board but I can tell you that the meetings that I have attended have had little to no one else in attendance. The Board does care and they do solicit input from the community. This is another reason Site Councils at each school are so important. They provide a lot of input that assist them in making decisions. The Site Councils are composed largely of parents who bring their concerns to the Board member assigned to that school.
The School Board does care and spends a great many hours on issues such as this. For those of you complaining about the system, get involved, spend some time researching and come to the meetings with articulate well thought out rationale that affects the students before passing judgment on whether they care or not.
And by the way, there are NOT a lot of professionals who would LOVE this job. I have been on hiring committees. I'm not sure where you got that notion from. Finding substitutes is enough of a complete challenge.
swimmergirl, you hit the nail on
swimmergirl, you hit the nail on the head. Teachers could teach better if parents could parent better. Teachers can't teach much when they are expected to play herd control with a room full of students who have no vague idea what discipline or structure is or who are so hungry they can't concentrate.
p, there are plenty of
p, there are plenty of examples of successful private education - like the Catholic schools or any of a number of other religious schools. Do you always have to bring up Europe as an example - they're doing really, really bad, if you haven't noticed.
I know the fallback excuse for the progressives is blame the parents. Well, I would say that they're reaping what they've sowed.
Parents were made to believe that the schools would be better equipped at handling their kids' lives. The schools would feed the kids breakfast and lunch and now in some schools dinner. Heck, a kid can even get summertime lunch at some schools now. Then the schools set up after hour daycare programs.
Kids are being pitted against their parents in the classroom. They get sent home to lecture their parents on green energy and lightbulbs and global warming and recycling. Parents are just too stupid nowadays, in their minds. It's pathetic, and it's happening.
The left and the women's lib movement said dad's weren't important in the home so we have huge percentages of kids in homes with no dads. Moms were led to believe that they really should pursue things in life that made THEM feel good, even at the expense of their children. Hence, absentee parents - physically and emotionally. Religion was pooed-pooed and patriotism was pushed aside as being redneck. It goes on and on.
It's the whole cultural agenda that the left set in place a generation ago and now they're whining about it.
I hate it when a post gets
I hate it when a post gets put into moderation. We'll see if mine ever shows up...
Wrong, Calypso
The Board DOES care what you think. It's just that most of you like to complain on the computer but don't get out and actually do something proactive like email the board or show up at a board meeting. The board is going to vote on the opinions of people who will go on record to explain their reasons, not just anonymous folks who spend all day spouting about how others' jobs are so easy that "professionals" can step in and do them. Most people with advanced college degrees (a requirement for teachers) would not want a teaching job, so I'm not sure why you think "professionals" would step in...
I agree with alaskagrown about parents: in the good old days, parents sat down with their kids and helped them do homework. Or, at least turned off the darn TV (Computer/video games) and made them do homework. Now schools are expected to provide EVERYTHING from education, snacks, food, assistance, and apparently, motivation that is lacking in the home.
People should show up and be active or quit whining.
calypso, you had to go overboard.....
also there are more kids in each classroom now, which makes a difference.
Calypso - I think you have a cart/horse issue there - if you think schools of their own volition started offering lunch for no reason. I think it's because NO ONE, progressive or conservative, was or is willing to stand up and say "if you send your kid to school without proper nutrition, we will take legal action".
Come on swimmer, you're
Come on swimmer, you're smarter than that. The left always comes up with a solution to further their agenda, then creates the problem. Like feeding kids at school. My gosh, it's right on display now with Michelle Obama messing around with school lunch programs. Tell me that's not an agenda. And it's a dismal failure, once again, because the kids hate the food and it's being thrown in the trash.
Class sizes are not larger now. When I went to school we always had 30+ kids with no extra help. I don't remember chaos ruling. Back then teachers had power and control and respect and polititcal correctness didn't rule the day.
I can still remember the wood paddle in the principal's office too!
I never considered myself...
..."well off". Yet as a single father busting my hump in the blue collar world I managed to put my four kids through private school. Since eighth grade was as far as that was available, they gaduated highschool in public school. The quality of education they received in the formal was phenomenal compared to the cattle chute they went through in the latter. Education is ABSOLUTELY better handled in the private sector. Argue with me all you like. But that has been my experience. The proof is in the pudding. And I would venture that 95% of parents that paid for their kids' private schooling will attest to the same.
People who buy expensive wine
People who buy expensive wine also think it tastes better, even though blind taste tests reveal otherwise. If you pay for something, you typically WANT it to be a good financial choice, and so it's easy to tell yourself there's a difference when there's not (and there may well be). Case in point: Calypso's insistence that a commodity good, rice, is "less starchy" when it has a brand name attached to it, despite the fact that both generic and brand-name rice come from the exact same place.
Statistically, private schools perform better than public schools. This is largely due to the fact that public schools contain people from all walks of life, including poor urban areas and remote rural areas where kids simply don't do as well in school because of culture or home issues. Private schools only include kids whose parents can afford to life in relatively well-to-do areas and pay for their schooling. Social class is one of the most important indicators of academic success, and I doubt privatizing the system would do anything for the types of kids who do make public schooling seem less effective, because it's not an issue with the schooling itself.
Makes no difference...
Teachers take their work home, but they don't work 8-hour days. Teachers take their work home, but don't work summers. Teachers take their work home, but get all kinds of breaks.
Schools should be open to kids 8 hours a day. We are paying teachers year round salaries, they should be there for the kids year round. If there is not school going on, the schools should still be open for recreational activities. We pay for the schools through our property/sales taxes, we pay teachers year round salaries, so why do we still have to pay by taking time off for teachers to have early release and summers off?
Teachers unions, what a wonderful thing!
Go Ron Paul! Put the Dept of Education and, therefore, teachers unions on notice!
Out of curiousity, we have great online college programs, why can't we do the same thing for high school? By high school they should be able to read, write and understand computers...
Wren, school is in session
Wren, school is in session for 6.5 hours, and teachers have to be there before students arrive and after students leave, so let's assume 7.5 hours for the average teacher (half hour before, half hour after). Then they go home and grade papers and make lesson plans, and have to be available to help students outside of class. That sounds like AT LEAST an 8 hour day to me, probably more. Especially when you're reading through, marking up, and grading high school essays for 100 kids (which takes many hours and many bottles of beer).
I'm seriously flabbergasted at all the people who think teachers don't work hard. You all went to school. Many of you were probably little brats who made their jobs more difficult (I was!). I don't know if you just didn't realize all the work your teachers did, or if you took it for granted, but they do a hell of a lot more than most of you probably do at your job.
My kids have attended several
My kids have attended several private schools in Arizona and Alaska. It's not cheap. Many of the kids my children went to school with were not from well-to-do or well off families. It's a commitment that costs the parents the luxury of driving nice cars and boats and taking vacations in exotic locations. Not to mention being able to save for their college education. Pretty tough commitment for the single father who came home tired, dirty and beat up every day. But, I maintain that the sacrifices were worth it and I would do it again. Now keep in mind that I also paid for their public education that they didn't take which made it possible for four other kids to be schooled, or more money to be spent on your kids. If I could change anything it would be the availability of tax credit or vouchers.
PP
You're still a little brat.
@p, not to beat a dead horse
@p, not to beat a dead horse but quit bringing up name brand rice vs generic rice.
Google rice and then study long grain, short grain and medium grain. There is absolutely a difference. Next go to WalMart and read the boxes of rice. That's your homework assignment.
Private schools are absolutely not filled with only priviledged kids (unlesss it's the fancy one in Washington, D.C. where BO's kids go). They come from all walks and many are even on scholarships.
Charter schools are gaining more popularity but I see where the teachers' unions are out to take them over. It's hard to get any type of voucher program in place because of the unions' influences too.
If there's one small, good thing that can come out of the dismal presidency of Obama its may be the public awakening of the cost of government and how little we get for how much we pay. Reforms should be on the way but it'll be a fight.
Thank you
Teachers are contractually obligated to a 7.5 hour work day. Go to any school 30 minutes after school has ended and see for yourself how many teachers stay after that work day is over. You keep comparing teacher jobs to your own, yet how many of you stay hours after you are supposed to get off? Stop thinking of summer break as a luxury or bonus and start thinking of it as comp time for UNPAID hours. Also, the teacher union, JEA, is not the same as the school district or calendar committee, so be thoughtful when placing blame as JEA is not creating the schedule.
Juneau Schools
Taking away time from kids that are use to getting breaks can cause more stress and hatred of school. No point in changing something thats been working for many years doesnt make sense if you ask me.
Aside from what i think... the commitee will do what they want and school district will do the same just as they did with the new high school and pool now look at them now wanting to cut there budget. Stop wasting money and stop changing things that work or youll end up just causeing problems.
p.s take a pole and ask the kids of Juneau how they feel about taking there break away!
@Calypso: long grain, short
@Calypso: long grain, short grain, and medium grain rices are different varieties with different purposes. You're just trying to draw attention away from your ridiculous statement. Generic and brand-name rice both come in those three varieties.
@skirkz: being well-off doesn't mean being rich. It means being middle class. Imagine a working class family scraping by paycheck to paycheck, or a family that can't find a job being able to send its kids off to private school. Private schools are made up entirely of people who are able to afford it and people who care about education; this is called a self-selection bias, and it's the main reason you can't say private schools are better than public schools. I have no doubt that some private schools are better than some public schools, and vice versa, but as a whole, there's no way to make an accurate comparison (and your kids DO miss out on a lot of social development; it's not healthy to be kept in an insular environment where you're only exposed to people of a similar class and background).
Scandling said...
"Scandling said there are many teachers who have come to appreciate the [early release] collaboration time and value it, while others still would rather have the time to themselves to prepare for classes."
----------------
The time that was taken away in order for early release to work was student contact time, not prep time. The kids go home earlier while teachers still work. Scandling knows this, but if she spoke the truth then it would have sounded like:
"...while others still would rather have the time to teach the children."
Well, then the cat would be out of the bag and she would lose even more public support of early release.
Memorial Day
The best reason to eliminate spring break is the savings
realized by not paying for the Memorial Day holiday. To have
Labor Day at the beginning of the year and Memorial Day at
the end is stupid. Memorial Day this year is the last week, after
half the kids and teacher have left.