Board hears community, teacher, student feedback on hybrid calendar

Decision expected in Feb.
The Willow Springs School District Board of Education held a special session last week to speak to the public about possibly moving to a four-day school week. Willow would be joining many other nearby schools, such as Mountain Grove and Cabool by moving to a four-day week, with over a quarter of all schools in the state making this move. The majority of public comments were made by teachers or parents.
 
Board President Mac Gum spoke first, wanting to, “clear the air on pushing this through without public comment.” Gum says he should've taken the calendar issue from the Jan. 13 agenda. He noted there were strong feelings on both ends of the spectrum, but that whatever is decided at February's meeting will not make everybody happy. Speakers were offered three minutes to speak on this topic.
 
The schedule proposed is not just a four-day week, but a hybrid schedule. This means there is still virtual learning that would have to be done and, likely, more homework for students, as well as a similar workload for teachers.
 
The school’s survey of parents, students, and staff showed support for the amended calendar. 52% of parents, 58% of students, and 82% of staff in favor. The community responses were more varied, with 48% supportive of a four-day week and 44% opposed. 
 
Many teachers and parents who spoke reminded the board to think about the children's best needs and the needs of and respect for the teachers this affects.
 
Donna Graves, who has grandchildren in the district, asked about other issues that could affect teacher retention, such as employment opportunities for teacher spouses and socialization. The woman mentioned an article by Emily Morton of the National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data and Educational Research (CALDER), saying that students in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, north Dakota, and Wyoming four-day schools scored lower in reading that those in five-day schools. Missouri schools, including Willow Springs, have been struggling with reading scores, which were negatively impacted during the COVID pandemic. Graves read from prepared materials that, “If your goal is saving money, boosting attendance, or recruiting and retaining teachers, research does not provide much support for the argument that four-day weeks are delivering the intended benefits.”
 
Superintendent Marty Spence told the woman that DESE had done a study and it, “showed no discernible increase or decrease in academics.”
 
The study, titled Study of the Impact of the Four-Day School Week on Academic Achievement and Building Growth released in January 2024, found no effect to a small negative effect. The DESE study also cites Morton's work as part of existing research. The Morton study does note, “the magnitudes of the negative effects of the four-day school week generally increase over time, with larger negative effects of the schedule observed in each of the years following implementation.” 
 
Lori Logan, candidate for school board and co-owner of Pizza Americana, spoke to the board on the lack of reading ability that some of her new hires from the area have had. Logan said she had worked in various settings of industries and now owns a business in Willow Springs. “We have employees that have a basic level of inability to read. When we digitized the pizza place and put computer screens, some of them have a difficulty understanding what they're trying to make from a basic pizza perspective.”
 
She says we need to make sure that we are focused on the standardized testing and what is giving the students the best education possible. “I employ a lot of high school students at the moment,” Logan said, “We do have students that are lacking, coming out into the workforce and they're missing some basics.” She says she has to do certain remediation activities for those employees. 
 
Miranda Brotherton, mother of the student liaison to the board, Tobie Brotherton, took to the podium to offer some thoughts on the way parents and counselors can schedule student-athlete's school days to accommodate the hybrid schedule. Sharing her concerns that students today struggle with showing their teachers respect, she suggested that the additional 14 days away from a school environment could help students relax and perhaps behave better.
 
Other speakers focused on concerns that time away from school would be a detriment to students who live in a state of neglect, those who come to school for care and love.
 
The board president thanked the gathering and reminded them that the board puts the needs of the students first. The district will make their final decision whether or not to approve the hybrid calendar at their next board meeting on Monday, February 10, at 6 p.m.
 
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