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Jackson's 4-Day School Week Survives Challenge

Posted on: Thursday, 20 October 2005, 00:00 CDT

By Peter Mathews, The Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.

Oct. 19--McKEE -- Jackson County's four-day school week survived a challenge last night, despite impassioned pleas from dozens of parents and teachers that it will harm children in the rural county.

What happens next isn't clear. Angry opponents of the new calendar plan to hold a rally at 7 p.m. Friday at Bond Memorial Park in McKee. Dozens of parents indicated they would keep their children home from school, at least for now, and some are talking about moving their children to schools in neighboring counties.

At a sometimes-raucous meeting with more than 150 people in attendance last night, board member Ronnie Hicks, who initially supported the four-day week, proposed that the district rescind it, study it and not impose it until next August.

In the end, it came down to the customers at board member Donna Gill's beauty salon, who support the four-day week, and a recommendation from Superintendent Ralph Hoskins. The vote was 3-2, with Hicks and Glendon Lear in the minority.

Some board members acknowledged the change had been poorly communicated and hadn't been thought through. One veteran teacher, Doug Wilson, told the board he had heard about it from his students.

But Gill also cautioned that scrapping the calendar now would be another rush to judgment.

The Jackson board approved the calendar change on Labor Day, at a meeting many community residents did not know about.

Starting this week, students will not attend school on Fridays. Teachers will work until noon. The school day now starts 15 minutes earlier and ends 45 minutes later than under the old calendar.

The four-day calendar does not run the entire school year. From March 20 to May 1, the district reverts to a five-day week. With those extra Fridays, the district would have 1,055 hours of instruction, just five more than the state minimum, according to the district's Web site.

The change is intended to save the district money, although school board members could not say how much it would save. Jackson County doesn't have nearly enough textbooks for its children, teachers say. And the district has never been able to afford to have high school football, though it plans to start a program next fall.

Opponents said children are worn out by the long days. One woman said her 5-year-old gets on the bus to McKee Elementary School at 6:10 a.m. and doesn't get home until 5:15 p.m.

There isn't enough time for extracurricular activities and homework, parents and teachers said at a strategy session held at a McKee restaurant before the meeting. One opponent, Jackie David, said she had obtained about 400 signatures on petitions from people who oppose the new calendar.

"This is the biggest mistake that's been made in a long time," said Marie Rader, who represents Jackson County in the Kentucky House of Representatives.

State school officials also are concerned. Kentucky Education Commissioner Gene Wilhoit recently told school districts that the state Board of Education would be looking closely at how students fare with the four-day week.

Jackson County is one of four school districts in the state that operate four days a week. The others are Webster County and Providence Independent in Western Kentucky and Jenkins Independent in Letcher County.

Hoskins listened sympathetically at the meeting but said the county must try new things. It has no utility tax, a small industrial base and 58,000 acres of national forest land that provides little revenue.

"We have some major problems," he acknowledged, including cuts in revenue and historically low test scores. But he said he thought the four-day week would help improve test scores.

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky.

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Source: Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, Ky.)

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