The Time is Now to Speak Out Against Passing Period Policy Change!!

The School Board will meet on Monday, June 3rd and will be, once again, reviewing the change to the district policy regarding student instructional time. This is the second reading of the policy and the time for discussion of the policy.  The proposed change will allow the district to count the time that students are walking between classes at OMS/AHS as “actively engaged in the educational process” and time that students are working toward achieving educational objectives under the supervision of a licensed teacher.

A-PAGE believes that these passing periods should not be counted as "actively engaged in the educational process".  The BOE is making this change because currently both OMS and AHS are not meeting the minimum number of hours required by state law without including passing time.  Passing time accounts for approximately 30 minutes each day. 

This 30 minutes adds up to about 84 hours of instruction each year that our students are not getting as required by state law – putting our students at a further disadvantage from other students in the state.  We have provided alternative options to the school district that increases the day at the middle school and high school by 30 minutes (start 15 minutes earlier and end 15 minutes later) to allow the school district to meet the minimum hours, without overburdening teachers with a longer work week (this is achieved with slightly different PLC time for the middle and high school teachers each week).

If you feel your students deserve as much time being educated as other students in the state, THIS IS THE TIME TO SPEAK UP!

The school board meeting begins at 7pm at the District Office (209 Victoria Avenue – south end of OMS parking lot). If you wish to speak regarding this policy revision, you must arrive 5 minutes early and sign up with the secretary. You will get 3 minutes to address the board. This section of the meeting occurs shortly after the start of the meeting.
Policy changes require three readings by the BOE. This Monday is the SECOND reading of this proposed policy change and the most crucial point for parent input.  If you are unable to attend this Monday's meeting to speak, please consider contacting any school board member via phone.  School Board members names & contact information can be found here.

You can see the proposed policy revision here. 
We encourage you to attend and speak up!
Sincerely,
A-PAGE Committee