NORTH WILKESBORO
Ashley Rankin, who started kindergarten in the Wilkes County Schools and will graduate Friday from West Wilkes High, said she has really liked the shorter school calendar that the school system has tried as a state pilot program.
"The downside is coming in 15 minutes earlier and leaving 15 minutes later," she said. "Other than that, you get more instruction. It saved us close to $1 million this year, saved jobs. It seems to me there's more pluses than minuses."
Today is the last day of school for more than 10,000 students in Wilkes County, where the pilot program put students in classes for 162 days instead of the traditional 180.
The school days were about 30 to 45 minutes longer, but county school officials say that the change has been well received, with good preliminary test results for students, and a cost savings of about $830,000 for the school year.
Critics say that the savings came mainly from the lowest-paid employees, who are getting fewer hours. State education officials are still evaluating the program. Wilkes school officials did not seek permission from the Department of Public Instruction for the pilot program, but instead had the change authorized as part of an amendment tacked on the state budget.
State law requires school systems to offer 180 days and at least 1,000 hours of instruction. The amendment included in the state budget last year put an "or" in the law for Wilkes County, requiring the system to have a minimum of 180 days or 1,000 hours of instruction.
Wilkes school officials say they should be allowed to keep the shorter calendar for next year, which would again require the legislature's approval.
Steve Laws, Wilkes County's superintendent of schools, said that student end-of-grade and end-of-course testing results won't be complete until next week, but so far, scores show that students are ahead of last year.
The shorter calendar received approval ratings of nearly 70 percent in two internal polls of employees during the school year, according to a study conducted by a Gardner-Webb University education class. The study pointed to a significant reduction in teacher absences -- 3,293 from August 2009 to January 2010, compared to 5,053 absences in same period in 2008-09.
Student attendance rates were about the same compared to the previous year.
School officials switched to the shorter year in part to save jobs that would have been lost in budget cuts.
Joe Anthony, who quit driving his school bus route in protest of the changes this year and ran an unsuccessful campaign for school board, said that the shorter school year has hurt noncertified workers such as teacher assistants, cafeteria workers and bus drivers.
"It cut them 10 percent," Anthony said. "The certified people and the higher people in the office -- it didn't hurt their pay."
mmitchell@wsjournal.com | 336-667-5691
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