The Columbus Municipal School District’s early dismissal plan, if implemented, may meet an early demise due to state board of education concerns over policy inconsistencies in other districts.
The CMSD board of trustees voted 3-1 with one abstention last week to approve the 2012-2013 school calendar, which includes a provision for middle school and high school students to be released at 12:15 p.m. on Wednesdays and elementary school students to be released at 12:45 p.m.
Teachers and administrators will use the extra time on Wednesdays for professional development, and the school day will be lengthened the remaining four days to recoup lost instruction time.
But even if the district follows through with the controversial plan, it most likely will only be in place for the upcoming school year.
The Mississippi Department of Education’s board of trustees voted Friday to limit its 152 districts to two early-release days per year, beginning in 2013-2014. The motion will not be official until a 25-day public comment period has passed, but Friday’s decision will only be subject to change if the board determines it is necessary based upon comments received.
‘Numerous cases of abuse’
Monday afternoon, Paula Vanderford, bureau manager for MDE’s office of accreditation, was busy making final preparations to notify districts and interested parties before opening the three-week window for comments, which must be submitted to her in writing.
Currently, districts have no limitations on the number of early-release days they can use, and Vanderford said it’s not uncommon for some to use those days for teacher training and planning.
The problem, she said, lies in what takes place once the children go home. Although there are accountability standards in place to gauge the effectiveness of the resulting in-house professional development, that doesn’t necessarily mean standards are being followed.
“There have been numerous cases of abuse where districts do not utilize that time for professional development effectively,” Vanderford said. “Over the last couple of years, it’s just been an ongoing conversation within our agency.”
There’s also the question of how it impacts test scores.
While good, effective professional development is a proven contributor to higher marks on state tests, Vanderford isn’t so sure two to three hours of in-house teacher training per week makes a drastic difference if it’s not carefully conceived and executed. And every district handles it differently — some better than others.
“We feel like the instructional time will better serve the students if they’re in the classroom,” she said.
CMSD Superintendent Dr. Martha Liddell, who spearheaded the Columbus school district’s new policy, could not be reached for comment as to what professional development would entail at the local level or how it would be regulated.
In a letter posted to CMSD’s website last week, Liddell said she is concerned the district could drop from academic watch to failing, based upon state accountability models, and she believes her plan could prevent a state takeover.
“I’m going to do everything I can, with the help of parents, teachers and principals, to keep that from happening,” she wrote. “We have some great teachers and principals. What we don’t currently have is enough time to give teachers the professional development they need for the new Common Core Standards state tests that are coming very soon.”
The Lowndes County School District releases students every Wednesday at 1:15 p.m., and teachers stay until 4 p.m. for professional development. The Oktibbeha County School District uses some early-release days for professional development, but school officials said it’s not used on a weekly basis. The Starkville School District used to utilize five early-release days per year for professional development, but they have discontinued the practice.
Lots of thought, little input
Liddell seems to have put a lot of thought into the proposal, and there’s no doubt professional development can be beneficial, said Lori Pierce, a foreign language teacher at Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science and the mother of two children at Columbus Middle School and one at Cook Elementary Fine Arts Magnet School.
But Pierce voiced concerns at last week’s board meeting, asking board members to take more time to gather stakeholder input on if, and how, the policy should be implemented. Many parents and teachers expressed surprise last week when the policy passed, saying they left the meeting thinking the motion had failed, not realizing it would be revived after a lengthy executive session during which most of them went home.
Pierce said though MSMS is not part of the city school district, and the early-release days won’t affect her as a teacher, she is a firm believer in quality training and more planning time, which she says makes teachers better.
During a brief stint at Columbus High School, she received a great deal of professional development from the district, some of which she rated as “really good” and some not so good. Continuing education credits are required for teachers in order to renew their licenses, but she believes there are other ways to fold teacher training into the regular school day.
She shares the fears the state board has raised — if it’s going to be done, it needs to be done right.
‘Not yet convinced’
Several administrations ago, early-release Wednesdays were used in the district, but they were discontinued, which had “a negative impact on student achievement,” Liddell wrote in her letter.
But in talking with parents and teachers, Pierce has heard a different story.
“It did start out well-used and appreciated, but apparently it didn’t take very long for the training to deteriorate,” she said.
She has other concerns as well. The four longer days will be hard, especially on elementary school teachers, she said. And from a parent perspective, she worries about how those days will impact her children’s after-school sports and other activities.
For younger children, she wonders how fatigue and hunger (for those who eat lunch early), will affect learning. Then there are issues of transportation, student safety and caretaker schedules.
Because Pierce doesn’t leave work until 4 p.m., having her older children released at 12:15 p.m. and her younger child released at 12:45 p.m. is a concern. Currently, middle school and high school students are dismissed at 3:30 p.m. and elementary school students are dismissed at 2:25 p.m.
But, she emphasized, she’s not opposed to early-release, she just wants more thought put into it.
“My personal opinion is the same reason the state board is looking at ending this process,” Pierce said. “It’s the same reason I wanted our district to be careful. I’m not yet convinced there’s been enough planning and input from parents to make sure, if we do it, we use that time wisely.”
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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