Bedell’s school calendar proposal is questionable

The Capital recently reported that Anne Arundel Superintendent of Schools Mark Bedell, apparently with the blessing of the school board, is asking the General Assembly to revamp the entire school year calendar. Instead of requiring 180 days, Bedell wants to convert to an hours-based system. That would allow for “flexibility,” he says. He made a similar proposal when he was head of the Kansas City school system, which appears to have been adopted in part as four-day school weeks, but not fully implemented until 2030, well after he was lured to Anne Arundel.

As the article explains, because schools measure student attendance in “seat hours,” he says there is no reason why those hours cannot be met by either extending available school instruction from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. (Bedell’s own words) or changing to a possible trimester calendar, with classes year-round. Those options seem highly unlikely given the recent decades-long fight to get the start times moved. (Anyone remember arguing over bus schedules? Anyone?)

We need to slow down and take a breath before we jump on the latest fad. There was a time when all the rage was “open” classrooms. Schools had to tear down walls so students could be taught in an open, collaborative, hippie-dippy environment where everyone could learn from each other. Yeah. That lasted all of a minute before everyone realized it was way too loud! We spent millions putting the walls back up. I don’t know about Bedell’s proposal. I do wonder why he left Kansas City before it was fully implemented. And, the four-day school week does have a lot of appeal. But kids in school in the summer? Or in the classroom until 8:30 p.m.? Sounds questionable to me.