SIKESTON STUDIES EXTENDING SCHOOL YEAR TO 200 DAYS

SIKESTON -- Hoping to emerge as a leader in Missouri education reform, the Sikeston School District is considering a plan to extend the school year from 180 to 200 days.

Bob Buchanan, Sikeston's superintendent of schools, said Tuesday the district is taking time to solicit comments on the proposal from teachers and the community before making a final decision.

"We think students are going to gain over a year and a half in actual classroom instruction in grades K- 12 by extending the school year," Buchanan said. "We think students are going to gain, parents are going to gain, and that's going to help the community.

"I think school choice, a longer school year, and exit exams are all going to be forthcoming, and we want to be prepared for those added demands."

Buchanan said he's discussed the proposal with Robert Bartman, Missouri's commissioner of education, who has long been a proponent of such reform.

Bartman has written articles extolling the benefits of a longer school year, and in 1990, he joined the Missouri Board of Education in proposing legislation to extend the school year to 200 days. The legislation failed, but triggered widespread debate on the issue.

State law now requires public schools to have at least a 174-day calendar one of the lowest requirements in the nation.

"Missouri's current school calendar was established nearly 40 years ago," Bartman said. "This calendar is simply outmoded and unsuited for contemporary conditions. We've got to leave the 1950s behind and reorganize our school system for the 21st Century."

Buchanan said he agreed with Bartman. The proposal before the Sikeston school board calls for school to start in early August and end in the middle of June.

A week-long vacation would be included in the fall and spring at the end of the first and third, 10-week grading periods. A two-week Christmas break would come at the end of the second grading period, and summer vacation would be reduced to six weeks, he said.

Buchanan said a longer school year will benefit students by providing more "time-on-task" for learning.

"Many times in the normal school year we don't have time to complete textbooks or the objectives of curriculum guides," he said.

Buchanan said an extended school year will enable students to enjoy more "enrichment activities," and the shorter summer vacation will help students retain information during the summer break.

"There will be less regression over the summer, which will mean less review, especially in those difficult subjects like algebra, trigonometry and physics," he said.

By giving teachers more instruction time, they'll be better able to develop practical application techniques, Buchanan added.

"They already teach theory," he said. "But this will allow more hands-on type teaching. The only way to learn to ride a bike is to get on it and ride."

Bartman said teachers would be paid for the additional days based on current salary schedules. By extending the school year, Sikeston also will receive additional state funding to pay for the added salary costs.

"We think the money teachers would make would assist in retaining and recruiting teachers," Buchanan said. In a salary schedule drawn up by the superintendent, he projects teachers' salaries to increase about 10.5 percent.

He said parents and the community as a whole will benefit from the extended school year, because students will be better prepared for college or work.

Last year, the district adopted more stringent graduation requirements another reform supported by Bartman.

The state commissioner of education said the idea of a longer school year is slowly gaining converts, a trend he hopes continues.

"In order for our kids to achieve what we expect of them and for our nation to remain economically competitive I am convinced we must give them more time to learn," Bartman said. "I am convinced that a longer school year of 200 days or more will eventually become accepted in America, and I hope Missouri will lead the way."

Buchanan said the extension of the school calendar in Sikeston is a natural. He said 600-800 students, grades kindergarten through 12, already participate in special summer sessions that the district has provided for the past three years.

The superintendent said the additional 26 days of summer school now are operated at a "break-even," which indicates that with additional state funding for salaries, the district ought to be able to extend the school year at no additional cost to taxpayers.

Buchanan said reactions to the proposal from teachers, students and parents so far have been "mixed."

"Some teachers are very supportive and some do not want to give up their time," he said. "Some parents support it, while others feel it's going to place kids in situations where they don't have enough time off."

But Buchanan said he believes the change is needed. He said the current calendar is based on the 19th-century assumption that families need their children at home during the summer to help with farm chores a notion that failed to fade despite the steadily declining number of family farms throughout the nation.

"We think with our added requirements, and if the school board sees fit to increase to a 200-day school year, we're going to be one of the leading school districts in the state," he said.