Jay extending school day

Jay Schools will try a longer day in hopes of avoiding a longer year.
Faced with a potential June 9 end to the school year because snow and severe weather forced the cancellation of classes 15 times thus far, Jay School Board unanimously adopted a proposal Friday by superintendent Tim Long that will add an hour to the school day for one month and give Long authority to continue the longer school day into the middle of May.
The plan, which is subject to approval by Indiana Department of Education, is an attempt by the board and administration to provide more instructional time prior to the state’s ISTEP exam and avoid simply tacking more days onto the school calendar. The state announced last week it would allow schools to add up to an hour per day in order to make up missed time.
“I don’t remember a winter this bad since 1978,” said Long. “And there’s no guarantee we won’t miss more days.”
Under the plan adopted at Friday’s special meeting of the board:
•Students will start going an extra hour each day beginning March 3 and continuing through April 8.
•Prior to April 8, Long and representatives of Jay Classroom Teachers Association will meet to discuss whether the system is working.
•If both JCTA and the administration agree the extra hour is working, Long will have authority to extend the longer school day from April 9 to May 13.
Indiana Department of Education mandated that six hours of additional classroom time will make up for one day lost for middle and high schools, and five hours will make up a day for elementary schools. The initial March 3 through April 8 trial period would make up about “three-plus” days, Long said.
“We’re going to evaluate it halfway through. … If it’s working well, we’d go into May,” he said. “After May 13 we would go back to the regular days unless it was decided to continue until the end of the year.”
Long’s plan also says, “Any three-hour delay would let out at the usual three-hour delay time, and those days would not be banked for make-up.”
If the plan works and is extended to May 13, it would move the end of school from the current date of June 9 back to June 3.
Board members said they had heard positive comments from the public about the extension of the school day as a way to make up the days lost because of weather.
They also said the use of three-hour delays by Jay Schools has students and their families accustomed to the later dismissal time.
“We’re used to it now with the three-hour delays,” said board member Mike Shannon. “That’s the path of least resistance.”
Jay County High School students on hand for Friday’s meeting also reacted favorably, as did teachers.
“Everyone’s in favor of it,” said Giles Laux, a fourth grade teacher at Bloomfield Elementary School.
“We surveyed quite a bit of our staff and parents’ groups,” said Long.
Despite the unanimous approval, board members did express some concerns.
“We’re probably going to hear from the softball and baseball people,” said board member Greg Wellman.
He also noted that some support staff could lose seven to eight days of pay as a result of this approach.
“We’ve sent some of those questions (about support staff) to the State Board of Accounts” for an opinion, said Long.
Though the board’s action still must receive Indiana Department of Education approval, Long said he is optimistic it will be OK’d.
“My understanding from the state is that it’s a done deal,” he said.

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