Year-round school would prevent students from forgetting all that math and grammar during the summer and would give struggling students an opportunity to get help throughout the year, area school officials say, but schools can’t afford to implement it anytime soon. “The year-round schooling question is a huge one for us because we experience summer loss, just like everybody else,” D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson told WTOP on Tuesday.
Academic regression is worse for low-income students than it is for affluent kids, who often participate in summer activities that keep their minds active, said Duane Arbogast, chief academic officer for Prince George’s County.
The current academic calendar is outdated, said Loudoun County Superintendent Edgar Hatrick. “We’re basically still on an agrarian calendar as if we were still bringing crops in from the field.”
Though different school systems define “year-round” school differently, Hatrick envisions a calendar that includes multiple breaks, each a couple of weeks long, throughout the academic year. During each break, remedial students could get the help they needed while ambitious students could get ahead.
Fairfax County schools tried this type of calendar for some schools in low-income areas a few years ago, but had to end the program because of the cost, said spokesman Paul Regnier. “I haven’t heard any great call to bring it back,” he said.
This calendar — what Arbogast called a “45/15 model,” referring to 45 days of school, followed by 15 days off — is also too pricey for Prince George’s County Public Schools because staff would be working more.
Much of the price would be used to market the new calendar to parents and students, he said. The current academic calendar has been used for the last century, and families often plan around it.
“For us in America it represents a cultural change because we’re so used to the long summer break,” Hatrick said. He said Loudoun’s schools can’t afford to make the switch now.
“Most of us are not looking for new ways to spend money.”
