As controversy continues to engulf the Chattooga County Board of Education, the school system is currently down one Board member and one Superintendent following recent resignations.
But the work of the Board will continue and on April 18th a vote is expected on the proposed 180-day schedule for the 2019-2020 school year. According to Assistant Superintendent Jared Hosmer, “the projected times would be 7:30 am -3:30 pm for teachers and 8 am – 3:00 pm for students.” Hosmer pointed out that the class schedules will fluctuate between schools and grade levels but the start and stop times will be system-wide. “As you know, these times are approximate and subject to change. The high school will be on a 7 period schedule with 50 minutes for each class. While the student start and end times will be the same, the schedules are different for the elementary and middle schools. Those schedules are decided based on grade levels. The high school would have a projected 63,000 minutes of seat time overall,” said Hosmer.
The Math Behind Each Day
On the five-day week (180 day calendar), the schedule will consist of 7 class periods, each 50 minutes long. High school students will receive 350 minutes per day, which totals 63,000 “instructional” minutes per year.
On the current four-day schedule, classes are 62 minutes long, which generates 434 minutes per day for a total of 65,100 minutes of instructional time per school years. The additional 46 minutes of the school day is spent on a 27 minute lunch and time allotted between classes.
The proposed 180-day five-day calendar will, in fact, result in a staggering 2,100 fewer minutes of critical instructional time than students are currently receiving with the four-day schedule.
Twisting the Numbers
Board Member Brad Hayes recently attempted his own explanation as to why the “new” proposal of the year 2009 calendar could be better for students. Ignoring the shortened days and class periods, Hayes simply pointed out that students will be at school three more hours per week. Hayes is incorrect on the release time for the four day schedule, students are released at 3:45.
Margaret cook
April 9, 2019 at 12:52 am
Casie, do you have a boss at AllOnGeorgia?
Jessica Szilagyi
April 9, 2019 at 11:12 pm
Any corporate questions can be emailed to info@AllOnGeorgia.com
James Logan
April 9, 2019 at 4:18 am
As a concerned citizen i would love to watch the board meetings on line.I understand that it is available but how do i connect to the feed?
Jessica Szilagyi
April 9, 2019 at 11:12 pm
James, Any of the meetings that are streamed are done so on the AOG Chattooga Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/AllOnGeorgiaChattooga/