BV Prep board votes to shorten its school days

The board of directors for the Blackstone Valley Prep Mayoral Academy has voted to shorten the length of day at its schools, resulting in a 40hour work week for educators instead of the current 45-hour minimum.

The changes will go into effect for the 2017-18 school year.

“Exact school start and end times will be scheduled later in the planning process but we anticipate the day will be roughly 40 minutes shorter for scholars,” BVP spokesperson Jen Lo-Piccolo said in an email, using the term the charter school network applies to students. “Right now we have early release on Wednesdays and as part of the change we will extend Wednesday to have the same dismissal time Monday-Friday.”

The move came last week as part of BVP’s initiative to improve staff retention.

As part of the initiative, administrators conducted interviews with current staff, examined exit interview data and identified trends. At a facilitated retreat, they identified time, career pathways, staffing structures and

benefits as factors in staff retention.

Last week, at the most recent board meeting, BVP parents shared their thoughts on the schedule change.

“Comments from families were both in support of the adjustments and asking the board to keep with the current schedule,” LoPiccolo said this week. “That said, I was struck by the overwhelming support our families shared for our team and for their dedication to the children, whether they were speaking in support of the adjustments or not.”

LoPiccolo added that BVP is also looking at the calendar year to see where it can be lengthened so that students receive similar classroom time.

Even with a shortened school day, BVP students will still have a longer day than their counterparts in traditional public schools.

The board last voted to change school times in April. It approved changing the high school’s schedule to be 8:25 a.m. to 3:25 every day of the week for the current school year, whereas the schedule had been 8:25 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. on Wednesdays and 8:25 a.m. to 4:40 p.m. the other four days.