Starting this fall, students in the Hermiston School District will have 45 minutes of free time every Wednesday in order to give teachers time for training.
Instead of the regular 2:30 p.m. release, district elementary students will dismiss students at 1:45 p.m. on Wednesdays.
For secondary students at Hermiston High School, Armand Larive Middle School and Sandstone Middle School, school will start 45 minutes later on Wednesdays, at 9:10 a.m. instead of the regular 8:25 a.m. start time.
Kindergarten classes will be 20 minutes shorter on Wednesdays so both afternoon and morning sessions will have the same amount of instructional time each week. Morning classes will run from 8-10:15 a.m. on Wednesdays, and afternoon session will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. Kindergarten schedules will remain on the full schedule Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
The modified late start/early release schedule will give staff time for professional development and training, a need officials called “critical.” In some cases, school board members received more hours of professional development than teachers last year.
“As a board, we’ve talked about this for a long time: How do we get our staff more professional development,” board member Jason Middleton said Monday. “This is neat to see we’re to this point.”
The board unanimously approved the modification, and the move caps months of study for the district, including discussions with employee groups and an extensive stakeholder survey.
“We literally called every single household in the Hermiston School District and asked for their input,” Deputy Superintendent Wade Smith told the board. “In a nutshell, we’ve tried to minimize the impact as much as possible (on families) while still getting ahold of professional development.”
The survey showed:
* 73 percent of families supported a consistent schedule and duration. Responders preferred a shorter change every week instead of a longer change every other week or once a month.
* 60 percent favored changes on Fridays, followed by Wednesdays.
* 74 percent of elementary parents favored early release instead of late start, citing work schedules and daycare concern.
* 60 percent of secondary responders supported early release, although many questioned how the release would impact afterschool activities.
District officials did comment on potential issues with Friday changes.
“In my experience, Friday does not work,” Hermiston School Superintendent Fred Maiocco said. “I think Wednesday makes the most sense.”
Most districts in the state already include weekly early release/late start schedules for professional development. Schools in Newburg, Grants Pass and Forest Grove have a 1 hour late start every Wednesday, for example. Roseburg and Redmond schools release students an hour early on Wednesdays.
In the region, Smith said Hermiston and Pendleton have been the only schools to hold out against the modified schedule; Pendleton just negotiated a once-a-week late start on Monday.
