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Early school start being considered
By Elise Franco
AUSTINTOWN — For the first time, teachers and pupils in the school district may start class before Labor Day.
Vince Colaluca, director of instruction, said the administrative office is looking at amending the 2009-10 calendar year.
He said the change has been proposed in order to fit in as many academic days as possible before high school sophomores have to take the Ohio Graduation Test in March.
“The goal is to educate our children to the best of our ability before their ‘Super Bowl,’” Colaluca said. “That’s basically what the OGT is for them. And we want to get in as much practice as possible before the big game.”
Colaluca said by state law, students are required to be in school 180 days per school year, with two of those days reserved for conferences.
But Colaluca said the new calendar, if passed by the school board, will add seven academic days.
The board is meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday for a special work session to look over the calendar proposal and make any changes. The proposal is expected to be voted on at the next regular meeting March 11.
“The year is the exact same length; we’re just moving the calendar around,” he said.
The seven academic days would come from four extra days before Labor Day and three days being trimmed from spring break.
Previously the district allowed six academic days for spring break. Colaluca said pupils would have three school days off for spring break and return to class on the Wednesday after Easter.
“This shortened break will be an added benefit for pupils who take the OGT as a junior or senior,” he said.
The last day of school will also be moved up one week, to June 3, Colaluca said. Classes end on June 10 for the 2008-09 school year.
Colaluca said one widely expressed concern has been that many children in the district participate in 4-H or work at the Canfield Fair the weekend before Labor Day.
“The problem is that Labor Day is later than usual,” on Sept. 7, he said. ‘So we have a situation where we have students and families who work in the fair. ... The majority of Austintown’s 5,000 students do not work at the fair, and their calendars are not driven by the fair.”
Colaluca said in order to accommodate those pupils who do depend on the fair, the district has applied for a waived academic day Sept. 3, the first day of the fair.
“We can hold a professional day for teachers that day,” he said. “So if the state approves it, the kids would be able to attend [the fair.]”
Colaluca said the only reason for the calendar change for next school year is that Labor Day is falling later in the month. He said if the holiday is early in September for the 2010-11 school year, as it normally is, the calendar could be changed back.
efranco@vindy.com
dmets (560 comments)posted 8 months, 21 days agoatownmama: just wondering what year you graduated? I know my senior year they started the proficiency test, which from what I have been told was much easier then the OGT. I know i did not have to take them! Just the freshman class did that year it started. I am also glad they did not decide on what kind of diploma the students recieved! . I also know people who took the first OGT before they revised it cause it was way too hard. The top 5% of students had a hard time passing it. All I know is that the students are tested by their teacher for every class, many times over throughout the year. Why is this not good enough? It really shows what the state and gov"t really think about our teachers!
aeparish (633 comments)posted 8 months, 21 days ago I took the first OGT.
I did well -- but it was no picnic.
metz87 (869 comments)posted 8 months, 21 days ago Let's tihnk about that every year they riase the standrad,you meet the standard then they rase it again and say sorry you did not do good enough. Then you meet the new stnadrad and they riase it again. That is how they make sure that falling schools never do good.
Education_Voter (144 comments)posted 8 months, 20 days ago dmets,
You are right, the teachers do already know the level of their students. This week I was showing a teacher the results of a rather expensive assessment her district ordered for their students. As I showed her the low performing students, she said, "I could have told you that, with a lot less drama."
Of course, I knew she could. But the question is, "Would the parents believe her?"
The state tests have an aura of authority which the familiar classroom teacher does not have with today's parents. So we get the same information, but from an unapproachable source. You do not get back the graded paper, to argue with marks -- just a score.
It doesn't indicate so much what the state and government thinks of our teachers, but what they think of the voters in general.
metz87 (869 comments)posted 8 months, 20 days ago In other words we don't know what is going on and we don't have any contorl over it.
Education_Voter (144 comments)posted 8 months, 20 days ago I'm not sure what you mean, metz. But some people know what's going on more than others, and some people definitely have more control than others.
We're all equal, but some are more equal than others.
Meanwhile, you could extend the school year by adding days on in June. I think it's been cooler in June than August. But then those days are after the all-important test, and thus worthless to some adminstrators.
It's nice to see some parents still value time with their children in summer, instead of just looking for someone else to supervise them. Maybe we could extend the school year, but make the activities different: more discovery oriented.
dmets (560 comments)posted 8 months, 18 days ago I think these tests steer away from teaching and more towards the brainwashing of the students, to make the gov"t feel better about themselves! Get over yourselves!. We had many smart students go through grade school and high school and never took a standardize test! So why now? It is not fair to the students!
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Comments
Here we go again, change things around when ever you want. I will be so glad when my grandchildren are done with school.
This is just stupid. We have early release days from September to March - one day a month. If you kept kids in the class room instead of having them leave early, you wouldn't need to do this. This man is an idiot. So what if Labor Day is Sept. 7th? We go to school AFTER Labor Day, end of story. And lets be honest, are 4 extra days really going to matter when it comes to taking a standardized test? 4 days, really. When is this school administration going to finally start telling the truth to its residents? And if those days are so important then why would it be ok to have school start on the 4th? He completely contradicts himself. We need to give them more time in class, but aw heck, we could start a day later. Pull your head out of your butt. You keep pissing people off, they are NEVER going to vote for your levy or for any of the BOE to retain their positions. Its time they started listening to the residents.
I don't see the problem with this, most Trumbull county schools start before labor day. Having more school days before the exam can only help the students. If this upsets everyone so much, form a petition and go the school board meetings. But really, why would you not like to give the students every opprotunity available to them? That half day, the educators are still there but conducting important meetings and keeping up on their education to make sure the rest of the month the students are getting their best from them. Give it a rest already, why is it that lately there is so much dissent for the educational system? The children really are the future, let us not ruin them.
We are not Trumbull County. We are Mahoning. Those half days the kids could still be in classrooms instead of making them start early. If you honestly believe that 7 days of school (and 4 of those being the first days of school) are going to make a difference in the scores for these kids then you should pull your head out of your butt too. We are not going to "give it a rest". The kids are the future, but a lot of our kids use 4H for their future. Do you want them to sacrifice that, something that may be their career or may be getting them a scholarship? How fair is that? You want to do something for these kids, give those students who need to take these tests the option to take study courses to help them. 7 extra days in class is not the answer, it is just a cop out because if they try and pass this under the guise of it helping for testing then maybe people won't be so against it.
I agree that the new "early release" days this year are a joke, ask your kids how much is taught in the shortened 1/2 hour classes - - or are they watching a movie that day? And why even have lunch - - At Frank Ohl, they have breakfast before 7:30am and then lunch by 10/10:30, because all clases are moved up & they are released at 11:45. And parents have to find a sitter or miss more work.
And if the summer vacation time is shorter, it's the non-custody parent who will most likely have one less week with their kids this year. And same goes for next Easter break. We don't need to get out even earlier in June.
And Fair Week is important to many, many families, & everyone doesn't want to go on Wed; especially when Youth Day is Thurs & school band concert day.
I forgot about the school bands and the cheerleaders, that all happens during the day.
"We are not Trumbull County. We are Mahoning"
WOW! a little testy there Atown? Fact is MOST northeast OH schools start before labor day. To start off your reply with a comment like that is a little condesending don't ya think? Fact is Mahoning County schools have held off on the start of school due to their beloved Canfield Fair.
If it helps YOUR students to be better prepared then get over it and plan your vacations a little earlier.
Wanna b1tch? complain about the 1/2 days and "comp time" for conferences like some of the other comments stated above. Don't try to imply you are better than someone - or deserve your own set of rules - just because of where you live.
While I believe that school should not be scheduled around what is seen by most (but certainly not all) Austintown students as a social event, I do believe that the current, after-Labor-Day start is not inappropriate for Austintown. If all Austintown teachers and faculty truly dedicated themselves to educating students, there would not be an issue with passing the OGT. In my opinion, Austintown BOE, Administration, and staff members need to focus on how to best educate students, not which days they go to school and what they will wear on those days.
Stop complaining. Where I live, the kids go back to school August 10th this coming year. I don't see anything wrong with going back the week before Labor Day. However, I disagree with shortening Spring Break. Students and teachers need that break to relax and regroup.
I'm so sick and tired of reading about A-town on here. In the last year, everything has been negative ( BOE, levy, idiotic principals that completely suck)...I am normally a very positive person, but it's hard when the Atown school system keep effing everything up. Keep the days the same. The extra study courses is the best way to go. There's only 2 grades that "need" the extra study days. I agree that the kids and faculty need that little break (spring break). When the hell is the BOE going to wake up and realize they are pissing way too many people off? I love living in Austintown, but I'm starting to wish I didn't bring my kids to go to school here. Ridge is looking really good right about now.
scrooge, I must have hit a nerve huh. Are you feeling a little inferior today? Truth is we are not Trumbull County. I never implied we were better, just that we are Mahoning County and our "beloved" Canfield Fair is a HUGE deal to A LOT of children in this area. Children that have been in 4H since they were young and use either the contacts, profits, knowledge or scholarships that they have received from being in 4H to go to college. Trumbull County does not have that issue, your fair is earlier in the summer then ours. Oh, and no one plans vacations during fair week, duh, we are all at the fair!
If you had completely read my post instead of just assuming the meaning, you would have noticed that I did mention the 1/2 days and how ridiculous they are, but you just felt the need to comment on the tone YOU gave to the post, not me.
Atown- you come off a bit cruel, but it's ok because that is what these boards are here for, to belittle other people and gripe anonymously. Or at least that is how it appears.
How many people from Austintown actually participate in this fair? If more than half the students that attend the school are participating in the fair, then there is some validity to your point. It does not appear that the case is built in the favor of those who delay returning to school, and why should it be? We are not an agrarian society anymore. Progress in favor of education.
Isn't that the same reason you joined here? To gripe anonymously, or did your parents name you ysugirl913?
It is not progress in favor of education, that is the whole point. Offer a study class for those who are taking the test because 7 days are not going to make a difference to the test results. And here is the kicker - it is not really 7 days either. It is just those 4 before Labor Day (well, 3 if they take the 3rd off), because that test is in March and spring break this year falls in April. So now how is it better? There are no more school days, it is still the same amount as this year. So why make kids go back to school before Labor Day and the Fair? It is just a ridiculous change that has no validity behind it.
You pick a name because it is unwise to post your given name because of stupid conversations like this. Stop with the jabs about anything else but the issue, it is distracting and frivolous.
The days end up being before the test and not after is the point.
It can and will help the students to be in class more before the exam, how is this even an issue?
Aside from the fair, what other possible objections could there be?
If the BOE is so gung-ho on having more days of school, just get rid of ALL those waiver days, and the half days. They are rediculous.
I'm sorry, are you even a parent in this district ysugirl? If it is so distracting to you then maybe you should find another story that does not involve you to comment on.
Atownmama, you got it right. Everyone else was in school yesterday. Our kids were home for anther waiver day. It is ridiculous.
Rather than join the argument over minor points, I would suggest that we all focus and think about the big issue. In our country, our region, our county, and even in Austintown our youth are the future and we must educate them to live in a more competitive world. To do that parents need to educate themselves on what systems are working best toward that goal.
Our area is dragging the bottom in Ohio when it comes to educational levels and proficiency of our young people. How are we ever going to attract growing companies and good paying jobs if we don't have a better educated workforce?
Our country lags behind the world by the same measures - especially compared to our greatest competitors. Take a look at the educational systems in India, China, and all of Europe! They often have nearly year-round school, six day school weeks and very long school days. They do this because it has been clearly proven that more concentration of classes and study without interruptions vastly increases educational effectiveness and retention. Their kids don't have frequent extended vacations or time off for a fair because they know that will not be the case when they go to work.
If we want to do the best for our children, we need to make the hard decisions... like year-round classes and parent support for education over vacations. It's far more than just adding a few days to the school year! If we don't, we will have no right to complain when even more jobs go to those who have the better educations.
The real issue is not when we go to school. It is about truth and honesty from our admin and BOE. Their reason behind this is that it would give kids more time in the classroom before the OGT test. In reality, our spring break falls AFTER the OGT test so those days won't even matter. That leaves 3 days. Really 3 days are going to make a difference? So what is the real reason for starting school early? There is more to this.
Also, as each and every parent has stated on here, maybe if they didn't send the kids home early one day each month, or not even have school at all at least one day a month, their educational goals could be accomplished without changing the schedule.
All I know is from the first day I started school over 20+ years ago, we always went back before Labor Day! Always! Oh and i was born and raised in Mahoning County! I think the only reason people will complain is cause of the Canfield Fair. But you tell me how many studnets in A-town are part of 4-H. I think you are starting to nit pick over everything! I know in a state, a family friend moved, their children go all year around with four breaks throughout the school year! So what they start in Aug instead of Sept, get over it!
I can see the shortened Easter break. I could never figure the week long break. But to go 3 days before Labor Day? It is just stupid. They would go Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Off Wed for a waiver day. Is it really necessary to change the entire school calendar for that? This is just another example of people in this school system not focusing on fixing the problems, instead changing things that don't need to be changed. They aren't even adding school days, we would get out sooner. It is not nitpicking, it is just another example in a long line of them of how our administration is not focusing on the education of the children. Is this really the concern the director of curriculum should have when the math scores in the 5th grade classes have drastically dropped after the introduction of Math Investigations? And yet we have how many 1/2 days? It is ridiculous that this should even be a topic of discussion. They need to get focused on the problems in the schools, not make more issues for parents to be upset over.
Someone tell me what the board's ulterior motive is with starting early? Sabotaging the Canfield Fair?
Atownparent:
An AP Math teacher at our local (Trumbull County) high school complained about missing even 15 minutes in front of his students. Being a math teacher he, of coarse, had it broken down as to how many more examples could be worked on, how many additional questions could be answered etc. So for you to say ONLY 3 days is in fact a huge difference.
As for your waiver days....what the heck is a waiver day??? Our system doesn't have anything like that! Maybe that's why our school system was designated "Excellent with distiction"?
Sounds like you need to be complaining to the BOE or teacher's union and not to us anonymous posters.
I bleive these waiver days as they call them is when they do tihngs behind clsed doors wihout tlling them. we did not have al lthese aiver days and hald days last year so sometihng is going on here and they aren't telling us what? It is still a mess when we have half day school days. everyone jsut crowds aroud outisde looking like well clueless. lol. The longer Heuer satys here the more tihngs get meesed up! Keep things the way they are and get the heck out of our town!
Atown, if you do not like the Austintown schools why don't you look into open enrollment? There are many schools around the area who provide these services and actually have a better rating then the Austintown schools!
Scrooge - it is hard to get your issues addressed when only 2 people on the board are actually receptive to opinions of the residents. The other ones simply ignore you, as do the admin.
dmets, I have thought about open enrollment, but I think we are just going to move.
AtownParent, doesn't it suck (to put it bluntly) that we want to move out of our own neighborhood? I'm not sure about you, but i absolutely love my austintown neighborhood. I guess the upside to moving into another school district.....It's a buyer's market.
Is this really that big of a deal? I have yet to see the "There is more to this..." reasoning behind why some of you think the district is considering starting early. Does anyone have an intelligent opinion why they feel that this option is being considered? or are some of you just going to say that you "know" why the district is considering this, but never explain. Every district does things that not everyone agrees with. For those of you who are thinking of moving away, you'll probably find something frivolous to complain about in your new district.
Wow Atown, I had no idea the board is so screwed up - but I guess I'm not surprized. Once you get a taste of public money you lose all rational thinking.
Sort of like a shark feeding frenzy-they even eat their own.
If you don't move I imagine your only option would be to organize a movement to replace the drones and get some fresh thinkers in there, but good luck with that!
atownmomma,
It is a buyers market.....but if you own your home in Atown remember......It's a Buyer's market!
If the board would actually listen to what people had to say tihngs might not be so bad. But as it is alot of people are fed up with how they are doing things,even alot of the teachers which is sometihng that proves how unopoular our board is and what they are doing.
Scrooge..I'm not worried about selling my home, thanks. It's a home, yes, but it can also stay my investment.
And , Metz, I remember us commenting before on the open enrollment about the BOE. Unfortunately they do not care. I love the fact that we have many teachers on "our side". That does make me feel a little (okay, a lot) better.
Scrooge, believe me, many have tried and we still have the same ones on there for 40 years.
Let me start off by saying I don't care either way when the kids start. I just disagree with the reasoning for starting early and cutting the break short. I think our children should have the skills and education long before they are required to take their test. Cramming before the test is pointless. Structure the curriculum in a way that the necessary educational requirements are met long before the test... like the year before, so it's a breeze to pass this test.
Aren't kida under enough stress as it is with their perosonal life and school? These tests just make it worse and cause some to just give up.
Metz, the test, i dont think, is really an issue. I think these kids should be able to handle the test. And I feel that it's good to know exactly what the kids are learning, and if it's enough.
You try taking that test, atownmama.
Why don't we try to educate our children to compete in this world economy? Why the hell do they need so much time away from school? Why not have school year 'round with a week off in the fall to hunt, a week in the spring to party, and 2 weeks in the summer to goof off? This way they get 11 months of education which might be enough to get them through life in the future world market.
Henry, sounds like a plan.
But only if they incorporate life planning classes and other classes that prepare students for the real world outside of college prep classes.
Personally I think they need to do away with the OGT! I think standardized testing is terrible! There are students who are very smart and do not test well in those knids of test. I think the students have enough stress already with everything they are required to learn.
Aeparish....funny you should say that. In conferences yesterday, i asked my sons 3rd grade teacher what happened to the Proficiency Test that I took in high school. I was informed that it is the same test. Soooo, aeparish, i did take it. I even had to pass it to graduate.
anything else you would like to say?
Aeparish (again) i should also mention (because it was mentioned before in a comment), that i had a personal life, worked 30 hours a week, and i sat through the test, which was a few days out of the week, and i lived. I'm well aware that they are stressful, but come on....
Okay, if it's the same test... then why are they pushing "standards" more and more? Why are they beating kids to death over this test if it isn't any harder than the test that you took how many years ago? Take into consideration that the cirriculum in schools are a lot more involved than in the past. There's A LOT for your kids to learn versus what you had to learn in order to graduate.
The test is 5 days long. I'm not saying it's impossible, because I had excellent results on the OGT when I took it in 2005, but it's definitely something that requires time and effort.
aeparish, at boardman, they "beat us to death" (as you put it) over this test. I understand the the cirriculum in schools are a lot more involved than in the past. Again, i don't see an issue with my child having to take this test, after learning everything that is in it. It does require time and effort, but isn't that what school is about?
yeah but the whole scool year relvoves around this one test? Why not jsut say I am going to school to study for the Oh My God Test? Enough is enough and I hope that Stirkland gets rid of this monster! It's almsot as bad as the ACT and that thing just about beats your brains out. kids have a life after school you know. there whole life is not and should not be be school, day and night 365 days of the year.
First of all -- the OGT and the ACT are two entirely different tests. One's a gradution test and the other is a college entrance exam. And naturally, as a college entrance exam, the ACT is far more difficult.
I'm not advocating the OGT. By all means, I think standardized testing is the most ridiculous thing ever. I busted my butt for four years in high school to graduate Valedictorian, did well on the OGT, and because I *only* got a 26 on the ACT, I'm still paying over half of my tuition to attend YSU. It's better than paying all of it, but still -- because I froze up on the ACT when I took it, someone else who had one good test DAY versus me having four YEARS of excellent grades in high school is getting a free ride.
I know that these comments have evolved into being about the OGT and school starting early, so by talking about the ACT and my personal experience, I've clearly strayed away from the subject due to my frustration. However, my point is that I agree that standardized testing is unnecessary and doesn't provide a good enough measure of a student's capabilities. But, at the same time, for as long as they're going to make students take it -- those kids need that extra time to prepare for it.
In an area near where I reside they went to starting school early then they went to trying all year round school which did not work. During summer months the heat caused sickness and difficulty when trying to learn. Main reason for starting school early and continuing into an all year round was salaries for teachers / mom's needing childsitters for various reasons. This also caused problems because funding became expensive so the school district is now back to after Labor Day and the last day of school is the first week day of June. Since these lessons have been learned by other school districts maybe those whom live in this area should know first hand what and what does not work in the schools. Posted by Kareen
Heck I think the als thing they are concenred about si a few kids feeling sick in a hot room. they turn the AC off half the time when it gets hot to save money. If they do this even though alot of people oppose it it porves who little they care about what the residnets who send their kids to school think. not that we don't know already that they care less. If they were smart they would stop digging themselves a deeper hole.
pci, there are many school districts who operate all year round. A good number of them also happen to be in the south and out west, where it is far warmer than it is here.
And teachers have the opportunity of getting all year round salaries as it is. I'm not 100% sure if they are required to or if it is an option, but teachers' salaries are divided up so that they've got pay checks in the summer months.
As for parents needing child sitters -- I can completely see why year round school would be convenient. As a property owner, you have to pay taxes that go to the school district. Parents who have to work and don't have anyone to watch their kids in the summer then have to rely on childcare, which is expensive.
They get you coming and going.
A comment by a poster a poster above that the OGT is the same test as the old Ohio Proficiency Test is incorrect.
The test has been revised, with more difficult items, and adding essay to the multiple choice questions.
Even when the Ohio Proficiency Test was used, passing became steadily more difficult through the years, since the score needed to pass was raised as the years passed.
This was supposedly a way to "raise" the achievement expectations for the children, but since few parents seem to realize that it was being done, I doubt the idea was effective. Instead, it justified the stories that schools like Youngstown were "continually" failing, when it reality, when they DID reach the bar set, it was just lifted to ensure failure.
For the record, if the kids have to take a test, it may as well be the ACT, which will actually serve some purpose for the kids. In at least one state, when the ACT was used, some additional youngsters decided to give college a try, after seeing their scores.