LITTLE ROCK — The Pulaski County Special School District is changing elementary school start and end times, angering some parents and raising questions about whether the teachers’ contract will be violated.
About 9,600 pupils in the district’s 24 elementary schools in areas such as Sherwood, College Station, Jacksonville, Maumelle and farwest Little Rock will spend 40 more minutes each day at school.
Most elementary schools would start at 7:30 a.m. - 30 minutes earlier. The schools would dismiss pupils at 2:55 p.m., 10 minutes later than in 2009-10. Last year, most schools started at 8 a.m. and dismissed at 2:45 p.m.
Parents have complained about the changes, saying they will have difficulty meshing their work schedules with their children’s. They are also concerned about the wear and tear the longer day will have on their young children.
“My husband and I did not approve of the earlier start time and adding 40 minutes to the day because the district so far has not been clear about what our children will be doing during the additional time,” said Vicki Dardenne, the mother of three elementary school children in the district.
“That has not been communicated very well. I know there are some parents who will be inconvenienced with the different start times. For us, the start time is not such an issue as much as the fact that they’ve added 40 minutes to the day without being clear in communicating why it was necessary.”
The extra time in elementary schools would be used for math and literacy instruction, said Deb Roush, district spokesman, on Monday.
Teachers would do their required planning while their pupils attend physical education, music and art classes, she said.
“We feel there are benefits in offering our students 40 extra minutes in math and literacy,” Roush said.
The additional learning time is one way to help schools that are struggling academically or are on the state’s list of needing improvement, said new superintendent Charles L. Hopson.
He added that the extra time is best for the students.
The district initially decided to change starting and dismissal times to comply with state law in the aftermath of the School Board’s decision to no longer recognize the union as the contract bargaining agent for teachers.
Arkansas law says schooldistricts must provide teachers 40 minutes of planning time during the school day. But a school district and a teachers union can waive that requirement in a negotiated contract. Through the last school year, teachers did their planning either before or after the pupils’ school day.
The School Board voted in December and again in April to no longer negotiate with the Pulaski Association of Classroom Teachers. The district announced plans for the longer elementary school day to provide for the teacher planning time.
In April, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox voidedthe board’s December vote. Then, on July 12, he voided the board’s April vote and directed that the existing teachers contract remain in effect when classes start Aug. 19.
The judge’s order to preserve the existing contract would seem to push the starting and dismissal times back to last year’s times. But the judge did order the district and association leaders to mediate any unresolved issues. Both district and union officials say those talks will include the starting and dismissal times.
“I’m looking to meet with PACT in looking at how we can reach common ground inleaving the [new] schedule in place,” Hopson said.
Hopson said he will speak with the teachers union about finding provisions within the current contract that would allow to keep the early bell schedule in place.
Marty Nix, president of the union, said the earlier bell schedule is a change many teachers weren’t expecting. She said in previous years teachers had planning time before or after school and were able to meet with parents without disrupting classes.
“All of a sudden it was just changed - without any notice and without any inputfrom teachers,” she said.
As early as June, parents complained to School Board members. One parent told the board the early bell schedule would mean her child would have to get up much earlier than normal and they wouldn’t be able to spend as much time together.
Middle schools and high schools in the district won’t have an extra 40 minutes.
But because buses serve elementary and secondary schools, the district’s middle and high schools will see a bell schedule change too. For most secondary schools, the change won’t be more than 10 minutes.
At most high schools , classes would start at 8:40 a.m. and end at 4 p.m.
“Truly, we tried to tighten the schedule as much as we could to make it as easy for parents as we could,” Roush said.
Hopson said mediation with the teachers union could take place as early as next week.
“I know in my heart this is what’s best for our students. As an instructional leader I stand fully behind it,” Hopson said.
Information for this article was contributed by Cynthia Howell of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 12 on 07/20/2010