District 300 mulls later-start days for elementary schools

Algonquin-based Community Unit District 300 officials are considering later starts for students in the district's 17 elementary schools on certain days during the school year to accommodate teacher training.

Administrators said the idea was prompted by the success of late-start days at the district's six middle schools and three high schools - in place for several years.

A later start will provide elementary school teachers and support staff more time for planning and professional learning to meet the needs of their students and schools, Superintendent Fred Heid said.

"For the upcoming (school) year, we're going to look at increasing the amount of professional development for elementary teachers, and use all of next year to talk about late-start schedules," Heid said. "We will either do late start or early dismissal next year. We will use all of next year to problem solve it so that we would be in a position to transition to late start at all of our schools in 2016-17 school year."

Administrators originally were considering eliminating early dismissals and having 15 late-start days for elementary students during the 2015-16 school year - to coincide with late-start days at the middle and high schools. However, when the plan was made public Friday, parents and staff members expressed concerns about making the transition so soon, Heid said. As a result, no decision was made on late starts, as the district gathers feedback from parents and staff, Heid added.

Arranging for affordable child care options for parents posed another logistical challenge, school leaders said.

Elementary school teachers now get eight early release days - totaling 18 hours - for professional development and report card submissions, less time than their middle and high school counterparts who get 30 hours. The gap has affected the district's ability to provide on-site training and increased teacher absences for required additional training, Heid said.

Teachers were pulled from their classrooms an average of eight days - ranging from three to 15 days yearly depending on their role in the implementation of new core math and English Language Arts curriculum, Heid said.

"We are making every effort to move away from large-scale professional development and shift to a job-embedded approach," Heid said. "This will minimize the number of teacher absences related to professional development and increase the efficacy of instructional practice. By providing training on-site, teachers will also benefit from a collegial approach where they are more open to sharing experiences, frustrations and successes related to new training."

Later starts at the elementary schools also would save the district between $160,000 and $275,000 in costs for substitute teachers, who are needed while classroom teachers are attending professional development training, Heid said.

Officials said they are trying to arrange child care at each elementary building for parents who may want to drop off their kids at the earlier time on late-start days. They reached out to all the after-school care providers to provide fee-based, before-school child care at each school. However, the estimated cost for morning supervision varies anywhere from $3 to $15 an hour per student depending on the provider.

Heid said officials want to ensure they have adequate coverage for everyone at a reasonable cost.