School board considers latest scheduling plan

By Rick Rouan

School board considers latest scheduling plan

By RICK ROUAN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

BOARDMAN— The latest proposal to realign schedules at Boardman’s two middle schools would require hiring four teachers and eliminating technology classes.

The school district has mulled changing the schedule for several months now. It wants to allot more time for tutoring and lengthen classroom time for core classes. The board last month scrapped a plan to realign the two middle schools. That plan would have placed all fifth- and sixth-grade students in one building and all seventh- and eighth-grade students in another.

The latest plan would not require students and teachers to shift schools, though some instructors likely would have to teach subjects they have not taught before, said Anthony Alvino, principal at Boardman Glenwood Middle School.

“It becomes checkers moving around and where do they fit?” Alvino said, adding that 10 teachers between the two schools would have to teach a different subject in which they are certified.

Under the new plan, periods would lengthen from 42 minutes to 56 minutes, and the day would end eight minutes earlier at 3:25 p.m., Alvino said. The total number of periods would be reduced from nine to seven, including lunch. All students would have special “tutoring” periods daily with core-class teachers so students can get extra help.

But students would lose the option of seventh- and eighth-grade technology courses and some language- arts courses, Alvino said.

“Instead of eliminating art and health, we’re reducing one of our core programs. ... I’m not sure that’s the direction we wanted to go,” said Mark Fulks, a board member.

The two middle school principals were asked to craft the plan without negatively affecting the district’s music program and not to spend additional money.

But the plan would require hiring four teachers, which, with salary and benefits, could cost about $160,000 in the first year, Alvino said. The teachers, though, would become progressively more expensive as they climb the pay scale.

“The whole thing becomes doable if the board becomes OK with the expense of the additional teachers,” Alvino said.

The latest plan also would place students in music classes for only three days a week instead of five, Alvino said, adding that, though periods are longer, students would still lose 42 minutes of instruction each week.

The board elected to delay further discussion until its September meeting and has not discussed voting on the proposal.

Board members also approved the district’s entering into the Ohio School Council energy consortium, which Treasurer Richard Santilli said will reduce the district’s energy costs by about 20 percent.

Last year, the district spent about $556,000 on electricity, he said.

rrouan@vindy.com