The Anne Arundel teachers union is critical of Superintendent Kevin Maxwell?s decision to extend the school day by 10 minutes beginning in the upcoming school year.
“The teacher workday is not being extended at all,” said school system spokesman Bob Mosier. “It?ll come from their collaborative planning time ? times teachers get together to plan within their departments.”
Teachers often use this group time to evaluate state test data, said Tim Mennuti, president of the Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County.
“If something has to go during this 10 minutes, then it?s probably going to be the evaluation of data,” he said.
“And that?s not good for anybody.”
Meanwhile, teachers are paid for 37 1/2 hours a week during the regular school day, but studies show that actual workload is around 58 hours week, he said.
At the elementary level, the additional instructional time was more welcomed.
“More than likely, it?ll be science and social studies that?ll be extended,” said Belle Grove Elementary Principal Adrienne Taylor.
“It won?t impact our planning time, because teachers already have a little extra time.”
Extending the school day is nothing new in the region. The Howard County Public School System extended the middle and high school day by 15 minutes in 2005-06, said school system spokeswoman Patti Caplan.
Anne Arundel?s decision was made recently with feedback from principals and other school officials.
Principals will have the option of determining how best to use the extra time, Mosier said.
“We?re trying to get more instructional time into the day,” Mosier said. “Ten minutes a day is 50 minutes a week, which is almost an hour of extra time.”
The state has a set minimum amount of time schools must operate, and the Anne Arundel school system exceeds those amounts on all three levels.
Elementary schools must be open at least 1,080 hours, and middle and high schools must be open 1,170 hours, said Bill Reinhart, spokesman for the Maryland Department of Education.
“There is no maximum amount of time to be spent in school each day,” said Reinhart. “That?s left up to individual school systems.”
The move will notaffect transportation costs since every school will stay open later, Mosier said.
Elementary schools end between 2:15 and 3:45 p.m., middle schools between 2:25 and 3:40 p.m. and high schools at 1:55 p.m., according to the school system.
Times vary largely because transportation services are contracted, Mosier said.
