Schools

School Board Dips Into Extended Day and Budget Proposals

Alexandria School Board addresses proposal for extending a teacher's workday and its budget request

The Alexandria City School Board last night dipped into the issues of extending the school year and how to best tackle pressing budget issues for the school system.

Lavern Chatman, president and CEO of the Northern Virginia Urban League, told board members that she favored extending the school year.

“I get to see young people who don’t spend enough time in school and know all of the social ills that can happen,” she said. “This proposal will take us from the farm days into the 21st Century…Tonight, as much as we love Old Town, as we love this community, let’s see a new day, a new town, with new ways of doing things.”

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A math teacher from Francis C. Hammond Middle School said he supported the separate proposal of extending teachers’ school day by 30 minutes, but cautioned that “just because a student is in a school room doesn’t mean they’re learning.” He urged the school system to consider offering snacks to children if they are expected to stay in school later than 4 p.m. or 4:15 p.m

School Superintendent Mort Sherman intends to file a waiver request with the state asking that the City of Alexandria be able to start its school year before Labor Day. The board agreed Thursday night to vote on that issue Mar. 3.

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Board member Charles Wilson said a longer year could benefit students and school because there would be more time to prepare for formalized tests such as the SAT.

He added: “Some parents say in addition to more academics, it saves us money” to have kids in school longer and when you’re the last [school] to finish up, our students are shut out of the market for lifeguard jobs, retail jobs, hospitality jobs…That’s been a complaint for years.”

School board member Mimi Carter, who represents the Old Town and Del Ray areas, discussed the importance of a well-thought out Professional Learning Plan for teachers and what sort of effort is being put into a new plan to go with a longer year and day.

School Board Chairwoman Yvonne Folkerts also highlighted that “opening…a school always doesn’t go as well as parents would like…What else can you say to parents that opening a school will go smoothly although there’s less time” for preparation?

The board decided to have a full discussion and take questions on the extended day issue at a Mar. 3 meeting. It will begin to discuss teacher compensation issues related to extending the workday at a Feb. 24 work session.

As for the looming question of funding for the school’s budget request, Sherman said “all the budgets in this city are cautious” and “in terms of looking down the line, I think it’s a difficult task that we’re facing.” 

The school system is projecting that it will have 7,100 elementary children next year.

“Last year we had 6,300. That’s real kids in real seats now,” Sherman said. “It’s imperative that we try and find space for those kids. We soon will be facing a space crisis.”

He said in the short term, there are some soutions such as the modular approach or trailers.

City council and the school board are expected to sit down together and discuss the budget requests Mar. 14.

Editor's Note: The name of Charles Wilson was misspelled. It has been corrected.


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