Richmond County school board Vice President Alex Howard has another idea for changing the school calendar to save money, and this one would let the kids out earlier for summer.
!["Right now, we're just looking for solutions to the problem."
-- Alex Howard, Richmond County school board vice president File/Staff](http://aug-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/superphoto/0202Alexhoward.jpg ""Right now, we're just looking for solutions to the problem."
-- Alex Howard, Richmond County school board vice president File/Staff")
Howard, who recently proposed a four-day school week, says he has a newer idea he likes even better -- tacking on 20 to 25 minutes at the end of each school day in exchange for ending the school year a week or two earlier than normal -- saving operating costs.
"I think it's easier to accommodate parents under this format," he said Monday. As the school system faces more potential cuts from Atlanta in the next two years he's looking to get as many ideas out as possible, he said.
"Right now we're just looking for solutions to the problem," he said.
Howard said he'll present his ideas at the school board's next set of meetings, with committees on Feb. 9 and the full board Feb. 16.
He said the longer-day proposal would be for next school year.
The four-day week idea, which would add instruction time at the end of each day in exchange for a fifth day off each week, was mentioned by Howard at a recent school transportation council meeting.
Howard asked how much money could be saved in transportation costs amid furloughs and budget cuts. He was told the savings would be about $4,300 a day.
Board members Frank Dolan and Barbara Pulliam have said they'd entertain the four-day week proposal but weren't sure it was a good idea.
As for Howard's latest proposal, board member Patsy Scott said "anything that is proposed, it is worth looking into," but she added that a lot of thought would have to go into it.
She said she also wouldn't rule out considering the four-day week, but so far she has received a lot of calls from people who are "really opposed to that."
On the statewide level, the Professional Association of Georgia Educators recently issued a statement opposing four-day school weeks, arguing that they would hurt instruction.
"We are kidding ourselves if we believe that by adding marginally to the length of the other four days -- a few minutes here or there -- we are actually making up for lost instruction time or student time on task," the release says.
As for Howard's latest idea, Tim Callahan, a spokesman for PAGE, said Monday that his organization would take a similar opinion.
"We already have one of the shortest school years in the world. To shorten it further I don't think is a good thing to do," he said, noting that adding length to the other school days wouldn't work because students lose their attention span with a longer day.
He said he's sympathetic to the financial hardship school districts are facing, but "we're just fooling ourselves if we think we're not going to reduce instruction" by altering school calendars.
Howard said something has to be done to offset the likelihood of more state budget cuts and the potential for more furlough days, which he said take their own toll on instruction.
"We need to look at every option out there, and that's my job as an elected official," he said.
double post, sorry...why is there not a delete button?
Georgiasouthern, that won't help because school would just let out in June instead of May. Right now, the school year consists of 180 days of instruction no matter the start date.
Great idea, but I have a better one. Why don't we just forget about education altogether, because people don't really need it, just costs money, which we could save in lower taxes, or spend on the military industrial complex fighting wars from now 'til kingdom come, and continue to borrow from the Chinese until we have to kiil them all because, well, when will we pay them back?
I wish they started now because teachers could really use that extra day or shorter days.. most of the schools here in richmond county are not going to make AYP for this year because of the absentees and the kids being suspended left and right for their stupidity.. so give the teachers already the shorter week or the shorter days... please!!.. they are burning out!!
Eliminate summer school, increase to ten hour days four times a week or run five days a week and shorten the school year. I am not worried about the extra day care expenses.
If you are a teacher and feel that you are burning out go get into another profession. Our students have enough problems. If a child is suspended, expelled or is absent too many days then the parents of that child need to be investigated for deprivation of a minor. Parents should be held accountable for their childs actions.
Show me 'SASSY' in this Picture Alex! Good...Very Good...eyes up a little higher...lift your chin...ok, tilt your head a little bit...WE need to make sure that this picture matches your suggestions to the RCBOE's Educational Problem. Hey Alex...why don't you ask your boss if you can work an extra 25 minutes per day to earn yourself a few extra weeks of vacation each year? See how that works for you! I bet that one would go over like a TURD IN A PUNCH BOWL!!!! Stop trying to mess with the Educational System...You are messing with the lives of the Children who will be changing your DEPENDS in the coming years...NOT SMART!!!
Well, Patsy Scott effectively killed any action on saving money. How? Read up above; she said that "a lot of thought would have to go into it." There's not a lot of thinking on the school board.
$ 4300 a day isn't a huge amount to save and shouldn't require such drastic changes. I am willing to bet the janitorial, cafeteria and other auxilliary services could be trimmed using student labor. Those in ISS get to pick up trash. Those with an interest in becoming educators can serve time as para-pros for credit. Culinary arts class - what better lesson then preparing meals for the whole school. Why can't students be asked or made to in a disciplinary scenario - take some responsibility and ownership in their school. Heck - have the Juv Judge start ordering community service hours performed at schools. I am sure the lawn and exterior projects could be handled with minimal supervision. Heck, some counties have a work program for dead beat fathers - give them a lawn mower and send them to school.
Since we already have a few magnet programs - create a fundamental magnet school for every age group. The requirements for enterance, parent involvement! I have seen it work in other inner city districts. Parents are required to work 4 hours per semester, for each child in the school. Plus parents must attend at least 2 parent teacher conferences per year, at least 2 PTA meetings per year etc. If a parent fails to participate, the kid goes elsewhere. You would be surprised how much money can be saved, how high those test scores are and how much pride those kids and families take in their schools. Enrollment is re-confirmed yearly and dependent upon student behavior, performance etc. The idea won't work for everyone but it will give students, who aren't the highest performers in the county, an alternative where they can learn with other students who want to be there and whose parents support them.
When I was in school in North Carolina a "few" years ago we started after Labor Day and summer vacation started in May. It worked then, why won't it work now?
I guess the education experts think that you didn't need to learn as much back when you and I went to school, Roadkill. Come to think of it, there wasn't as much history to learn. And there wasn't as much "cultural diversity" to learn. And there wasn't as much "political correctness" to learn.
Parents should be held accountable for their childs actions. our children are becomming uncontrolable because the wippins we recived as kids from our parants would put parents in jail now. THe Law has taken our ability to control our children away and now , they say if you can't control them we are in trouble ...and we wonder were the gang problems come from ..somes time a childs rearend needs to have a belt put to it ..but I fell it may be to late ....
People with kids are worried about the day care cost for a shorter week. People without kids are worried about the day care cost for a longer week. Seems everyone is concerned about daycare cost.
Government schools = child abuse. Scrimp, save, borrow, take a second job if necessary to send your kids to private school or homeschool them. The less time they spend in public school classrooms, the better off they will be!
dissman...the reason is pretty simple for Parental concerns and daycare. Daycares are very costly and many parents have made adjustments to their own PERSONAL schedules to make sure that their kids are taken care of by daycares. This requires logistics in transportation, budgeting and coordination of schedules. Many are fearful of the change...and I would imagine that many are also concerned that their jobs might not be as accommodating...
Dixie...I hate to burst your bubble...but Private Schools are not necessarily better. They do have a chance to pick and choose who they take. But their education is not necessarily better. Nor do they have requirements for faculty to teach there. Oh, did I mention that the Private school rejects to get shipped to public schools...so the Private schools can be at "FAULT" for not saving EVERY CHILD!!! Here is the problem...PARENTING...If parents do their jobs...everything else will follow suite...Private, Public, Homeschooling will be irrelevant!
You guys crack me up. It seems everyone knows how to fix the budget problem. If that's true, why is it no one ever shows up during the school board budget meetings to make these suggestions? Instead, people anonymously criticize a board member willing to throw out an idea for discussion. db, to answer you question, it's called comp time. Most companies have it.
'Ol Alex looks a little pudgy in this picture, maybe a little too much of the good life? Does every board member get their pubilicity shot in the paper when they open their mouth publicly? Did Sparks go after Howard or did Howard call up and want to talk? Everyone is for good progressive thought, but not for advancing political or egotistical agendas
If anything, we need year round school! three weeks off between each term. The kids won't forget everything over the summer and the teachers can get refreshed regularly, and it would end up being more time off for the kids and the teachers.
Despite the personal attacks by some commenters, the reality is that everyone - both those in the public and private sector - is struggling with finances (in case you've been hiding under a rock). Name-calling and childish picking won't solve anything. If you don't like this guy's idea, then propose realistic ones yourself. How would you realistically solve the budget problem in this economy?
Were you proposing to have four terms or three, Noway? If four terms, there would be 12 weeks off per year. If there were three terms there would be nine weeks off per year. In either case, that's less time off than what they have now. How would that save money? Remember, saving money while providing an adequate education is what the discussion is about.
We lived in the mid-Atlantic for a short time and it snowed every Thursday & Friday for 6 weeks straight. Needless to say the schools closed quite a bit. To make up for the instructional shortfall they extended each day about 25-30 minutes. It actually worked really well and the kids were no worse off for it. If they need to save money to make the budget work then this is a potentially good solution for it. Much better than a 4 day week.
Budget problem?
A few ideas here:
1..Extend the school day 15 min. in the morning and 15 min. in the afternoon..When you build 8 hours close all of the schools for a day.
2..Cut the fat in the 'central office'.
3..Privatize some of the departments..ie:---lunch rooms, public saftey, maint., bus drivers, housekeeping, nurses, groundskeepers.
4..Reduce all wages by 5% of all employees making over $50,000 a year.
5..Layoff some folks in every department.
6..Close and consolidate some schools.
7..Auction off all excess property.
8..Implement a hiring freeze.
9..When an employees leaves or retires do not fill the postion for a least 6 months.
10..Conduct a man-power survey of all job positions...ie: you have folks, with a PHD, running a media center in some of the elementary schools..(what a waste of money)
11..Layoff the PR person...(He makes $120,000 a year) They don't need him.
12...Trust me, there is a lot of 'fat' in the system that can be cut.
my 2 cents
I credit Mr. Howard for trying to stir up ideas. This one may have more merit than the 4 day school week. One thing to consider along the way is to shut down the busing program altogether. Go back to true neighborhood schools as much as possible.
Why don't you just bring in cots, turn them into boarding schools, and make their days 24 hours long. Then you could pack it all into a few months. That would save costs even more. The little kids can't handle the length of the school day as it is. And by the way, I don't think anyone sends their child to school to pick up trash. Unless they created some trash, picking up trash is not appropriate. There is no way that I would want my child picking up other children's trash. They aren't there to be janitors.
I would rather the kids went to school year round, just have longer breaks between quarters. Make parents responsible for lunches and breakfast and for getting the little darlings to school - in other words, stop the buses and meals. Make the parents responsible for paper, pencils, crayons, etc. Teach basics. Get rid of the fat in the school system. Why do secretaries need secretaries? Get volunteers back into the schools. Cut administrative staff. Lots of ways to save money - cutting back on time spent in school should not be one of them.
Personally, I find it frustrating when commenters on here assert things as facts that are factually incorrect. I respect everyone's opinion, but please refrain from muddying the waters by posting rumors and cloaking them as facts. I'm not going to point fingers, but you know who you are. Thanks.
1..Freeze all new construction spending.
2..Stop the free meals.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012. All Rights Reserved.
