District weighs pros, cons of six-period day

Staff

Published Sunday, October 30, 2005

By Joseph Marks, Tribune staff writer

District 241 School Board members received a report from Albert Lea High School staff at their last board meeting on the possible advantages and disadvantages of switching to a six-period day during the 2006-07 school year.

The six-period day was one of several budget-saving options the board considered to offset a $1.4 million shortfall in the 2005-06 budget, but felt it needed more time to evaluate.

The 2005-06 budget shortfall was balanced with a series of small reductions, increased program fees and by spending down limited reserves by $1 million.

“Depending on how this year's audit comes out,” said Superintendent Dave Prescott, “the board will likely have to use a combination of fund balance and budget reductions to make the 2006-07 budget balance.

“I feel the administrative job is to continually focus on student achievement while you go through this process. For a district that's gone through as many budget cuts as we have, there's no fluff left. So you have to look at cutting things that will have the least impact on student learning.”

Prescott stressed that the board had not yet made any decisions and the six-period day was the only major budget reduction item the board had received extensive analysis on so far this year.

The board will not begin to make budget decisions, according to Prescott, before receiving an auditor's report on last year's budget and reaching a settlement on employees' salaries.

Under a six-period day system, students would take six classes at a time for two semesters, totaling 12 classes in one year. Under the current, four-period day system, students take four classes at a time for four quarters, totaling 16 classes each year and allowing significantly more room for electives. Projected cost savings for the school are $250,000 per year.

The greatest benefit of a six-period day, according to Prescott, is that students would be able to take math classes year-round, rather than for only one semester each year.

“The testing thing with math definitely got our attention,” said Prescott, “because it's easy to see how our kids would struggle on MCA (standardized) tests if their schedule is such that they could go a whole year without taking a math class.

“If our budget reduction is such that we don't need to change, we'll still need to change how math is handled, probably through a skinny math period they could take all year.

“My biggest concern with the six-period day,” said Prescott, “is the narrowing down of electives that kids will have to choose from. They can take this or that, but they can't take both.”

Other proposed budget savings measures include:

- Adopting a four-day school week.:

Students would receive the same amount of instruction during four extended days. A four-day week is estimated to save approximately $400,000. According to Prescott, research suggests the change would not negatively impact student learning.

“Most people work a five-day week,” said Prescott, “and if your kids are home one of those days, it would force parents to make adjustments. We don't want to upset the community or parents, but what catches our eye is it's $400,000 and it doesn't negatively affect student achievement.”

-Reduced busing:

The state refunds school districts for busing students who live more than two miles from their schools. The district picks up the cost of busing students within a two-mile radius. The estimated savings of limiting busing to students further than two miles away is $60,000.

“It's a cost savings to the district and it doesn't impact academics,” said Prescott. “If your back is against the wall and our mission is to educate, there are some painful decisions to make.

But a first-grader walking two miles in a Minnesota winter is not a good thing.”

-Discontinue all-day kindergarten:

During the last school district budget referendum, community members voted to increase the district's levy to fund an all-day kindergarten program at a cost of approximately $300,000.

“Of all the things we're looking at,” said Prescott, “research by us and others says if you don't have all-day kindergarten, student achievement will suffer. So that would be a very hard choice for the board to make.”

After last year's budget discussions, board members posted a series of budget-saving items being considered on their Web site and invited the public to submit others.

Staff was invited to submit ideas to building leaders. The public submitted ideas through school board members. For each idea, the board asked that an impact statement be prepared to detail how students and others would be affected by the change. Ideas and impact statements were then posted on the web.

The board will continue to study options and receive input through December. They will make final budget decisions in January or February.

“I can't emphasize enough,” said Prescott, “that we're a district that studies things carefully and tries to make decisions in a very planned way. We try to make sure the community is aware and involved before we make up our mind.”

For more information on district budget options, visit www.albertlea.k12.mn.us and click on budget reductions in the upper left hand corner.

(Contact Joseph Marks at joseph.marks@albertleatribune.com or at 379-3435.)

---

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE THIS STORY?

---