TPS eyes late-start day for TMS, elementaries – Tahlequah Daily Press

The Tahlequah Public School Board is considering a weekly late-start day for its elementary and middle school campuses for the 2017-2018 school year, leaving local parents wondering how it could affect their schedules.

The late start would offer school staff time to meet in their Professional Learning Communities and Site Instructional Councils.

School board member Sharon Ballew said the meetings would allow teachers a chance to go through academic standards, and then come up with strategies on how to teach those standards.

"They could have grade level meetings - vertical meetings," she said. "First grade and second grade might meet together, so second grade can talk with first grade about what they expect those students to know by the time they get into second grade."

Currently, the schools - aside from the high school - begin at 8:10 a.m. On late-start days, classes would begin at 8:40 a.m.

Superintendent Lisa Presley said it wouldn't be feasible to have the meetings during the day, or in the afternoon.

"We've been trying to do it during a school day," she said. "They are just so crunched for time. We tried it a few years ago in the afternoon, and we tried have PLC time in quarterly meetings, but we were not successful in the afternoon or planning it that seldom."

The TPS Facebook page posted a survey for parents to take online Thursday. Many patrons responded with questions relating to drop-off times and whether it would cause extra school days to be added at the end of the year.

Presley said there will likely be a structure in place for parents who have to get to work early to drop off their kids at the regular time. She also said the school would still provide transportation and breakfast, only 30 minutes later.

Ballew said it would not cause the schools to add any extra days to the calendar, because required time is based on minutes, and normally, schools would go over those minutes, anyway, by the end of the year.

"There's just a lot of things that teachers could work on, even in just that 30 minutes," she said. "It could be very beneficial.

These type of meetings would be in place to increase the focus on learning and to make school organizations stronger and more effective.

Presley said that eventually, the schools' "academic performance will be stronger."

What's next

The next regular Tahlequah Board of Education meeting is Thursday, April 13, at 6 p.m. at the board office on Water.

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TPS eyes late-start day for TMS, elementaries - Tahlequah Daily Press