Schools Will Ask State Board To Relax Time Rule Rogers, Shadle Park Want Less Official Time Spent With Students

Two Spokane high schools with innovative schedules will ask the state Board of Education to grant them permission to spend less official time with students.

The requests from Shadle Park and Rogers high schools are likely to be approved by the state board.

The education reform law of 1993 is moving the state away from strict seat-time requirements and toward measuring school success through students’ performance.

“I’m not aware of the (state) board denying any request for a waiver on that issue,” said Larry Davis, the board’s executive director.

Shadle Park and Rogers shortened classes by a few minutes each day to allow teachers to meet for collaborative planning. Students get more time to meet individually with teachers during the planning time, although that time cannot be counted to meet state requirements.

Shadle has been using the new schedule since 1993; Rogers since 1994.

Current state law is complex in its formulas for calculating minimum teacher “contact hours” and “program hour offerings.” High schools must offer at least 1,080 hours a year of regularly scheduled classes and at least 25 hours a week of teacher contact in classrooms.

Rogers’ schedule puts the school at 1,001 program hours a year and 24.2 hours a week of teacher contact time. Shadle’s offers 986 program hours a year and 24.2 hours a week of teacher contact.

The Spokane School District average still meets the state’s “contact hours” requirement, even with the changes at Shadle and Rogers. But as more schools consider alternative schedules, that could change.

“This fall as we looked at the schedules we realized when another school came forward that would throw the district average out of order,” said Associate Superintendent Cynthia Lambarth. That’s when the district decided to seek a waiver from the state board.

In a related matter, Shadle Park plans to further change its schedule by converting to a three-period day in the fall.

Shadle students still will take six classes each semester. All six classes will meet on Mondays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, students will attend three 100-minute classes. On Wednesdays and Fridays, students will attend their other three classes.

A few classes, such as band and choir, will meet daily during a “zero” period.

Shadle will hold a meeting for parents on the three-period day on May 15 at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria. Teachers hope the longer classes will promote more in-depth study, project-oriented learning, less stress and closer relationships.

Lakeside High School in Nine Mile Falls School District was the first in the area to adopt longer class times when it went to a four-period day in 1993. Classes there are 85 minutes long.

Central Valley School District is finishing a series of community meetings on a four-period-day plan.

Freeman High School is moving to a four-period day this fall. West Valley is refining a schedule that combines traditional 50-minute classes and some two-hour classes.

, DataTimes