QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON
NO SCHOOL EARLY RELEASE
Q: Are elementary school students being released early every Wednesday this year? And are middle and high schools being released early twice a month?
A: There willbe NO EARLY OUTS for either the elementary or secondary schools during the ’09-10 school year.
Q: Why are we eliminating Early Outs?
A: HB 691sponsored by Rep. Rhonda King, passed the Legislature and will be fully implemented in the 2010-11 school year, ensuring that all students are in attendance 180 full instructional days. The hours of attendance will include:
• Kindergarten through grade five: Five and one-half hours per day, exclusive of recess and noon lunch period.
• Grades six through grades twelve: Six hours per day, exclusive of passing periods and lunch period.
• Up to thirty-three(33) hours of the 180-day instructional time may be used for parent-teacher conferences and home visits for Kindergarten programs. Up to twenty-two hours of grades one through five programs may be used for home visits or parent-teacher conferences. Up to twelve (12) hours of grades six through twelve program may be used to consult with parents to develop Next-Step plans for students and for parent-teacher conferences.
Q: If this law doesn’t go into effect until the 2010 school year, why are we changing the schedule this year?
A: One of the requirements of No Child Left Behind is to ensure that teachers are provided professional development to learn researched based practices that have been successful in assisting students to become proficient in reading and math. This is also a requirement for the use of stimulus monies in education. To continue the district initiatives that are being implemented it was determined to be more productive to use full days rather than partial days to do the trainings.
Q: The calendar shows extra professional development days on September 2nd, November 4th, February 10th and March 10th. How can we have those in the 180 days for student instruction? Doesn’t that leave only 176 days for student instruction?
A: In the past we were able to have early outs because current law allows districts to either fix calendars by days (180 days) or by hours of instruction. Hours of instruction for Kindergarten are 990. 990 hours for grades one through five and 1080 hours for grades six through twelve. Farmington fixed the instructional calendar by hours to enable staff to have early outs for professional development.
Q: Is our calendar of instruction for this year based on hours of instruction or days?
A: Our calendar for the ’09-10 school year is fixed on hours of instruction rather than days. The beginning and ending of the school day for elementary and secondary schools provides additional instructional time over the 990 hours for K-5, and 1080 for grades seven through grade twelve. This enables the district to provide four extra days of professional development for staff.
Q: Two more days on our calendar show parent-teacher conference days. Are these days part of the 180 day/hours of student instruction?
A: Days for parent-teacher conferences are included in the student day/hour requirements of current, as well as, new legislation. Thursday after school until 7:00 p.m. and Friday until Noon of September 17thand 18th and Thursday after school until 7:00 p.m. and Friday until Noon of February 4th and 5th are the scheduled parent-teacher conference times for the ’09-10 school year.
Q: Within the 180 days of school (August 14- May 26) how many days is there no school for students?
A: Students have no school on September 2nd, November 4th, February10th, March 10th, September 18th and February5th . The four professional development days and the two days for parent teacher conferences are part of the 180 day/hour calendar. Please note within a given month there may be other days that students are not in school but those days are not part of the 180 day calendar.
Q: Are holidays included in counting the number of days for instruction?
A: No, the calendar was built allowing for no school on holidays and holidays not being part of the 180 or 185-day count. Students and staff do not work on Labor Day, three days at Thanksgiving,winter holiday, Martin Luther King Day, Presidents’ Day, five days of spring break, and Good Friday.
Q: Will the number of professional days change after this school year?
A: Yes, as students need to be in school 180 full days, which include the two parent-teacher conference days. No longer can a district choose between using hours to calculate instruction timevs. days. If a day is missed because of weather, it will need to be made up. This means four of the professional days for the ’09-10school year will not be on the instructional calendar for ’10-11 school year. Students will be in instructional time for 180 full days.
Q: If we have “snow days” this school year, do we have to make them up?
A: Yes we will have to make them up. We will utilize one or more of the professional development days. Instead of training for staff, students will be in class.
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