The committee was appointed by the school board to do a study on the effects of an alternative calendar. Although some may refer to it as year-round’ school, committee member Bill Powell said the term is not being used.
Committee leader Craig Callen, who was scheduled to address the board but couldn't make the meeting, said in a written statement that the committee has contacted nearly a dozen schools in the state concerning an alternative calendar. Eminence, Bardstown, Calloway County, Graves County, Burgin County and Mayfield were just some of the districts the committee members have spoken with.
Powell told the board that out of all the teachers, custodial staff, bus drivers, and athletics personnel they spoke with, they all seemed to anticipate a lot of the same problems that Middlesboro would face.
“The schools did expect some problems with their bussing systems but all staff figured out how to make the schedule work and it all took care of itself,” said Powell. “One thing that the schools did find was that their teacher moral was up and so was their student moral.”
Powell said that in their findings, test scores in other districts either went up or they stayed the same. Child care, test scores, discipline, and attendance seemed to be “hit or miss,” depending on the school system. Powell backed Callen's statements that even with schools providing day care opportunities, some continued to have problems and complaints throughout the school year, yet some had no problems at all.
Powell said from a research standpoint, there was no data available to truly tell the impact of an alternative calendar. He said Graves County returned to a traditional calendar because their classroom grades dramatically decreased while their test scores stayed the same.
Callen reported in his document that the district encountered an attendance problem before and after breaks. Once they changed their calendar back, their class grades improved.
The board did seem concerned over breaks prior to the CATS (Commonwealth Accountability Testing System) testing for Middlesboro schools. Powell said out of all the schedules they have looked at, students would be back in class three weeks prior before CATS testing.
The committee surveyed both Middlesboro Middle and High School students on several questions to see how the calendar would effect them. However, Powell said he thought the students may not have understood the questions completely.
“Some of the questions could have been worded differently,” he said.
The survey asked students if they would be willing to attend school until Dec. 21 and not come back until Jan. 5. Out of 549 students surveyed, 230 said yes they would, and 319 said no.
Another question asked if students would be willing to start school two out of the four years on the last week of July in order to receive two weeks of fall break and two weeks of spring break. Out of 535 polled, 199 said yes, while 336 said no.
Powell said that question was kind of tricky to the students and explained that no matter what time the calendar started, they would still be looking at a seven-week summer vacation. On the spring break, one week could be kept open to make up snow days so they wouldn’t be added at the end of the year.
“That way, they would still be guaranteed one week of spring break,” said Powell.
One question asked if students would perform better on end of semester test if they had additional time off prior to the test. 243 said yes, while 278 said no. Out of 515 surveyed, 194 said they were responsible for taking care of younger children during extended breaks.
Out of 336 asked, 222 students said reducing their summer vacation by two weeks, while adding a week to both fall and spring breaks, would harm their families’ ability to take vacations together.
When asked if regular school attendance would improve, stay the same, or get worse if they were to have two weeks for fall and spring break, 108 said it would improve, 106 said it would get worse, and 250 said it would stay the same.
Finally, high school students were asked if reducing summer by two weeks would effect their ability to obtain summer employment or summer programs, 137 answered yes, while 71 said no.
Powell said the committee will be holding a public forum Jan. 5 from 6-8 p.m. in the high school cafeteria to obtain input from parents and the general public.
The school board suggested that the committee also talk to all staff and employees in groups to gain their insight. The committee plans to have everything finalized before the school board meeting in February so there will be time to create an official calendar.
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