Townsend School District Update
 | Author:
Nancy Marks
Nancy Marks: MT43 News Secretary and News Editor |
Townsend School District Update
Nancy Marks
School Board Hits Headwinds Over 4-Day School Week
School board members did their best Monday night, March 20, to wrap their arms around the questions and concerns of about 75 people as the board presented its findings about instituting a four-day school week in Townsend Schools. The meeting was part of the board’s strategic planning process and was led by board member, Shaun Scott, a Carroll College professor.
He fielded questions about what kids would do who had nowhere to go on Fridays; what effect it would have on sports schedules and Speech and Drama competitions if Townsend stayed on a five-day week while surrounding schools were on a four-day week. Would the school day be longer? Would the school year be longer? What about special education students? What would happen to them? What about daycare in Townsend for another day for the 50 percent of the population who work in Helena?
TEAMS GATHER RESEARCH ABOUT A FOUR-DAY WEEK
Three presentations included facts and figures around the subjects of teacher recruitment and retention and class size and absenteeism in the schools. Three teams of teachers, school board members and members of the public explained the drawbacks and solutions of a four-day school week versus the current standard being used.
Second-grade teacher, Kelsey Flynn, showed data from nearby schools in Boulder, Manhattan, Three Forks and Whitehall. Boulder’s high school has followed a four-day week for several years. Both Manhattan and Three Forks are planning to move to a four-day week. Whitehall will start its four-day week in the fall. After Townsend Elementary teachers studied the data, 18 of them were in favor of changing. Six wanted more information and two were against changing.
Flynn pointed out the disadvantage Townsend Schools have. “There is a shift in the interests of new teachers entering the field. Our school must be competitive to attract those teachers. We have lower salaries than those schools around us. The four-day week is an incentive for those new teachers,” she said.
Middle School teacher, Levi VanZee, presented his team’s findings after giving an impassioned plea saying how important this school is to him and all the teachers. Several members of the group followed with praise for the teachers “These teachers are the people who do a great job every day getting through to our kids with passion and compassion. They are the experts in the learning field. We need to listen to their advice,” Jeannie Steele said.
VanZee pointed out the four-day week presented is not the only solution to the problems. Going to block scheduling might be another solution. He presented data about year around school attendance. “At first, I wanted a four-day workweek so I could be with my family. But the further I researched what was going on around us, the more concerned I became about us being competitive, of being able to attract good teachers and retaining them in what I think is a great school system here,” he said.
High School teacher Jeremy Bartlett emphasized in his team presentation what effect a four-day school week would make on high school absenteeism. While data showed no difference between a four-day and full-week schedule with student drop-out levels, absenteeism for both students and faculty dropped noticeably in a four-day school model. High school teacher, Joe Horne, pointed out that Friday, March 17, there were 395 students absent. “That’s a full 25 percent of our student body,” he said.
PARENTS SURVEY PLANNED
The three-hour meeting ended with parents strongly urging the school board to get the information out to the public, then send out a survey to see what people want in their school. Future meetings will be held to cover community partnerships and favorable learning environments.
“We presented about as much information tonight as the public could digest. We will have another open community meeting to cover the two other goals sometime before our regular April meeting,” Board Chairman Jason Noyes explained.
The board will send out a survey both online and through the mail to families with school-age children to get their input for the four-day school week. The Montana School Board Association will facilitate and coordinate that survey, so each family will get one vote. “That procedure will assure that the vote will not be weighted one way or the other,” Noyes said.
The next step for the school board is to either make a decision or continue further investigation. The next meeting will be the first week in April. Noyes said it is urgent for the board to make a decision about any change by mid-May so it can be scheduled for the 2024 calendar year.
