After further discussion, the School Board of Alachua County tentatively approved a calendar for its two soon-to-be year-round schools during a regular board meeting April 16.
In February Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) announced an official transition to year-round schools for students at Metcalfe Elementary and Rawlings Elementary . This change established that a year-round school calendar would begin in July and continue through the 2028-29 school year.
A proposed 2024-25 year-round school calendar was presented during a school board meeting April 3 for the elementary schools, which are both School Improvement (SI) schools in need of improvement with a low school grade for multiple years. However, there was concern among the board members that the public wasn’t considered in the creation of the calendar and that it needed more discussion.
Board member Leanetta McNealy requested an amendment on April 3 to add the topic to a school board workshop on April 10, which was approved. A revised, second draft of the proposed year-round calendar, which eliminated three student-teacher Friday holidays in July and August, was presented during this workshop.
Not yet approved: 2 Alachua County schools are switching to year-round. But the calendars need some work
Jacquatte Rolle, chief of teaching and learning, said that following the April 10 workshop, both schools held parent meetings to share the proposed year-round calendars with families. Additionally, a survey was distributed to gain parental input regarding the student-teacher Friday holidays.
Rolle said that out of 73 responses received, 60% of parents responded that they would not need childcare for the Fridays off in July and August. Therefore, she said, Superintendent Shane Andrew recommends that the board approve the initial calendar proposed on April 3, which includes the three student-teacher holidays in July and August.
Board member Kay Abbitt said they shouldn’t start the school year by conforming to the traditional calendar and that students should be in attendance those three Fridays.
"They [year-round schools] have to be done right in order to be effective,” she said. “I would never have chosen those two schools because you’ve eliminated the choice for parents in that neighborhood… Now that those two schools have been chosen and approved, parents need an out, and I've said this before, and they need an out that’s easy... School starts [in] three months and we don’t have a calendar and there are a lot of unanswered questions that I have, and you guys probably have even more than I have."
Abbitt also expressed concern that parents wouldn’t know school starts in July and there would be major attendance issues. Under the year-round calendar, for the 2024-2025 school year first day for students at both elementary schools will be July 16 and the last day for students will be May 23.
"We can be a pilot for how to do things right in the state, but... with school starting in mid-July I don't have a whole lot of confidence that it's going to start smoothly," she said. "If it doesn't start smoothly, and this year does not turn out well, you're not going to have the buy-in for the next three years.”
Board member Tina Certain said she believes the district is rushing into the plan and has not given enough time, consideration and engagement with families at both schools, as the new calendars would begin in July under short notice. Additionally, if parents request a zoning exemption to not attend the year-round schools, families will have to provide their own transportation.
“I think the student needs to be in school Monday through Friday because... it's been acknowledged by the principal, by the district leadership team, we've seen it in reports of the challenges that we have with attendance in those schools," she said. "I just don’t think we’ve done enough with the parents and I feel very uncomfortable sitting here in this seat and voting on something.”
Certain said she can’t support either of the calendars, but if she had to vote, she would vote for the one where students attend school Monday through Friday without the Friday student-teacher holidays. Additionally, she said, between the two schools there are 996 students but the survey mentioned by Rolle on Tuesday evening only received 73 responses.
Employee concerns
Community members associated with the elementary schools said they’ve been in the dark at Metcalfe and have many questions that haven’t been answered.
“It's been frustrating moving forward with this because I feel like we have not gotten a lot of input on what the schedule is going to look like,“ said Kailey Knott, a Metcalfe teacher.
Knott said they were presented the schedule of Boulware Charter School and employees liked the consistent schedule shown, along with its two-week intercessions. When they first received the initial schedule, however, she said it was different from what was proposed to employees, as is the second iteration of the schedule.
Knott also presented a proposal to the school board that they implement stipends to staff at the year-round schools to recognize extraordinary commitment, to attract qualified educators and to recognize their hard work, among other benefits.
“As we strive to maintain the highest standards of education and support for our students, it's essential that we also prioritize the welfare of those individuals who work tirelessly to uphold these standards day in and day out," she said. "This continuous cycle of teaching and preparation can lead to burnout if not properly addressed. Especially as the first schools in the district to adopt the schedule, there will be a learning curve, and we know that this is going to be taken on by the teachers."
Judy King, receptionist at Metcalfe , also spoke.
“We understand that we are still working 196 days, but because of the changes we will have to make for ourselves and our students, our workload is increasing,” King said.
Jnani Gardner, Metcalfe teacher, said that employees were given only five working days to make the decision to either return to Metcalfe as a year-round school or to be placed elsewhere, despite not having finalized information.
Dwynette Smith, Alachua County teacher of the year and Metcalfe teacher, said a year-round school would benefit students and she urged the board to avoid hasty action.
“If we are hasty in implementation of this program, we are cheating our students and our families out of what they could truly get from this program,” Smith said. "I feel that if we have level heads, take our time and really reach out and do the research that is required to make this a successful program, we will have just that, and we will look back on this and know that we did it the right way. Hasty action never yields anything worth keeping."
Alachua County was chosen as one of five school districts to participate in the Year-round School Pilot Program, established by House Bill 891 , which allows the Department of Education (DOE) to help school districts implement a four-year year-round school program for elementary schools.
Board member Sarah Rockwell suggested postponing the change to year-round schools and asking the state for an extension, if that's possible.
McNealy said she doesn't see the state allowing the district to pause or extend the timeline to convert to year-round since the district was chosen by the DOE to participate in the pilot program. Although July is approaching, she said, the schools can be ready if everyone changes their mindset and do everything in their power to help this succeed.
Cathy Atria, deputy superintendent, said the Florida Department of Education requested the approved year-round calendar with a proposed testing calendar by next Friday.
The board ultimately voted to tentatively adopt the first iteration of the calendar, with Tina Certain in opposition, under the premise that the superintendent will ask the state for an extension.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: School Board tentatively agrees on year-round school calendar for Metcalfe, Rawlings
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