Published: November 16, 2009 02:17 am      

W.Va. county examines year-round schools

Members of one West Virginia county school board are taking a look at the idea of year-round schools, an issue that has some support from President Obama and Gov. Joe Manchin. Last month, Piedmont Elementary Principal Steve Knighton traveled to Marshall County in the Northern Panhandle, to discuss the year-round schedule at Piedmont, a school in Charleston’s East End.

“I really believe that the school calendar has not been designed for kids,” said Marshall County board member Lori Kestner. “It has been designed for employees.”

Kestner is a strong supporter of year-round schools, and has spoken with Manchin about the idea. “He said, ‘I want a county somewhere to take this challenge on,’” Kestner said. “I said, ‘We’re ready.’”

According to Kestner, Manchin looked her in the eye and said he would help a county that went to year-round schooling get the resources to be successful.

“I’ll never let him forget that,” she said.

Kestner admits that some of the other Marshall school board members are more skeptical, but she believes too many students are starving for lost knowledge during the summer months.

“We’ve got to get past thinking that 180 days is enough. I may need 220. You may need 140,” she said. “If we continue doing what we’re doing now, we won’t do any better than we’re doing now.”

Knighton shared the benefits and drawbacks of year-round schools in his meeting with the Marshall County board.

“The positives for us have been increasing student attendance and increasing staff attendance,” he said.

Parents no longer have to load up their child’s dentist and doctor appointments in the summer months. Missed snow days are easier to make up on a year-round schedule, he said.

“The teacher morale seems to be much higher,” he said. “The angst that’s associated with just watching kids has been reduced.”

One area of concern, however, is that parents with children in Piedmont and other schools have different school schedules. Some children enjoy opportunities and fun summer activities that “our kids don’t,” he said.

If Marshall or another county were to go to a year-round schedule, Knighton would advise them to expand it to include all the schools in a feeder area, at least. For instance, Stonewall Jackson Middle School and Capital High School are in Piedmont’s feeder area.

In that case, children would transition better between two schools, he said.

David Hall, another Marshall County school board member, believes county officials would consider all schools becoming year-round, as opposed to just a few. It would be difficult to isolate just one or two, he said.

Marshall school board members are only in the information-seeking stage of the process, and “are finding out the pluses and minuses about an opportunity for kids,” Hall said.

Earlier this month, Hall had not heard much feedback from parents, teachers or others about year-round schools.

Kestner mentioned that a couple of principals in the Cameron area are excited about the possibility of what she calls “year-round learning.”

“I don’t call it year-round school, because people get defensive,” she said.

Kestner hasn’t heard much from area parents, but understands that some teachers are used to summer jobs, coaching assignments and other responsibilities.

“I want our county to be the first in everything,” Kestner said. “I am so tired of West Virginia being last in everything. We have to be first in something. ... The perception is that we’re so reluctant to change in this state.”

Bob Morgenstern, director of organizing for the West Virginia Federation of Teachers, said school leaders in any county that weighs year-round schools should consider the teachers.

As with innovation zone legislation, Morgenstern believes a significant number of teachers should be on board with the idea of year-round schools. To become an innovation zone — where a school would receive waivers to many state laws to practice creative new strategies — at least 80 percent of the school’s affected employees would have to approve it.

“Make sure the decision-making is from the bottom up, not the top down,” he said. “Top-down decision-making never works.”

In the summer months, teachers often work on staff training and graduate credits to stay on top of their profession, while many have sports and coaching obligations, Morgenstern said.

“There’s just a whole bunch of issues that have to be considered, and I’m not saying ‘yea’ or ‘nay,’” he said.

Matt Turner, a spokesman for Manchin, said year-round school is a concept that Manchin certainly favors. In the past, he has discussed the merits of year-round schools publicly.

“Anything we can do to improve our students’ achievement and improve the quality of education that better prepares them for the 21st-century work force is something the governor’s very supportive of,” Turner said.

Later, Manchin relayed a message via Turner about the Marshall County school board.

“I applaud the county leaders for taking that bold initiative and for not being afraid to look at what they can do to enhance the quality of education in their county,” he said.