Ridgway Area School District proposes intriguing changes to school schedule
RIDGWAY - An email was sent out to parents recently by the Ridgway Area School District (RASD) that the district is considering changes to their school year calendar.
The most notable change to the proposed 2024-25 school calendar is having four day weeks of school compared to five every other week.
In a frequently asked questions sheet posted on the district BoardDocs resource, this change is being considered by RASD due to meeting the diverse needs of students, specifically noting areas from an academic, social, emotional, and health and wellness perspective.
Another contributing factor to this potential move is “to mitigate the general tensions that are at the heart of k-12 education,” according to the school.
With this observation, they stated that educators are faced with increasing regulatory demands of state and federal legislation and the increasing needs of students.
One positive legislative change that took place in the past year that was beneficial to RASD and districts across the state is the instruction requirements to 180 days of an educational day or 900/990 hours of instruction per year.
The district also laid out challenges regarding increasing mandates upon educational systems coupled with the lack of support to meet those requirements has led to educator burnout.
The schedule proposes that for the fifth day on the four day school week schedule, RASD intends to balance the state and federal mandates by instituting one professional learning day for educators and four instructional days for students.
A potential change from a five day school week to a four day school week would not result in a change to the length of the school day for students and staff.
FSG
Elementary students would still have 5.97 hours of instruction per day, and middle-high school students would have 6.58 hours of instruction per day.
Teachers would still work 7 hours and 40 minutes per day.
RASD listed pros and cons of research they conducted, and found that there are benefits when it comes to qualified cost savings and is dependent on how the fifth day is used. The average cost savings for schools that are closed on day five is 2.5%, and ranges from .4% to 5.43%.
Another finding that the district had is that the perceptual data indicates an overall improvement in school climate, and parent/ student perception is overwhelmingly positive when it comes to schools that have implemented four day school weeks.
The biggest deterrent with making this change relates to student growth when eliminating a day out of the school week.
According to their research, some districts have found slower rates of student growth, and one study indicated a small to medium negative impact on academic achievement over time.
These negative effects were found to be associated with schools that had fewer than 30 hours per week of instructional time, rather than schools that had 32 hours or more that did not observe this negative effect.
The district said that they will identify specific metrics and commit closely to monitoring the effects of a four day school week.
There are many options on the table when it comes to the activities that students and staff will complete on the fifth day.
For staff, notable options include curriculum restructure, data collection and analysis, reviewing state mandates and requirements, emergency operations planning, along with many other subject areas.
For students on the middle-high school level, they would occupy this time fulfilling community service hours, job shadowing, extended pathway opportunities, and more.
FSG students will fill their time on the fifth day with supported agency programming, possibly partnering with no school day camps with the Ridgway YMCA, and exploring potential opportunities with the Ridgway Public Library and the Elk County Council on the Arts.
The following statement was issued from Superintendent Heather McMahonVargas for this story:
“RASD is evaluating our local educational systems and structures in light of the opportunities being provided through legislative changes to school code, guidance from PDE (Pennsylvania Department of Education), and best practice research. Specifically, for the coming school year, RASD is looking at the school calendar and start times for students. No decisions have been made and any decision made will require board approval. Thus far the District's committee on Curriculum, Instruction and Student Learning has developed a proposal regarding the 24-25 school year calendar. At this point, information and focus group meetings are being held with staff, parents/guardians, students, St. Leo's, and service providers (cafeteria and transportation) to better understand their needs and concerns with such a change.”
McMahon-Vargas added that today’s students and staff deserve to teach and learn in a system that addresses their individual needs that will enable them to “find their purpose for today and passion for tomorrow.”
Two focus group meetings will be held with parents on this matter. The first meeting will be held be held tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the FSG Elementary School for all parents of current and future elementary students, while the second will be held on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the RMHS cafeteria for all parents of current and future middle-high school students.