Trustees Clear Hurdles For Full Day

Parents, administrators and board members debated the merits of full day instruction for first and second grade students before the board unanimously voted to eliminate the early bird/late bird staggered instruction model in favor of a full day.

Currently, first and second grade students are part of either an early or late group with a few hours overlap, during which specialists see the entire group. District officials said this model results in scheduling instructional time around specialists and creates a day full of interruptions without a core instructional block for learning, thinking and processing.

“It’s very common to hear from teachers that they don’t have enough time to go over what they need to cover,” said first grade teacher Jennie Nguyen. “As teachers, we’re always looking for the most effective and efficient way to teach…literacy is better when it is every day, uninterrupted.”

She said the current schedule is too segmented, and eliminating early bird/late bird will give teachers valuable, focused time for teaching.  Additionally, a full day program amounts to about 22 added school days each year.

Her sentiments were echoed by other teachers, including first grade teacher Sean Kuiper. He likes the opportunities full day would provide, like creating small group instruction through utilizing all teachers and specialists for a particular grade level, breaking students of different ability levels into groups and giving them the challenges and attention they need.

“We’re all very excited about the opportunity to have a full day of class,” he said. “We can all come together [and ask] what is the next best step for that child at this particular juncture? What am I seeing? What is someone else seeing?” He said this type of professional collaboration would enrich the learning experience for students.

However, some parents present were upset by the prospect of the larger classes full day would necessitate. They worried that with this model, their children would loose small group instruction.

“The conversation that I’m hearing is…quality versus quantity,” said parent Christine Murad. “Kids learn very differently, and some kids really need one on one interaction with the teacher. My fear is if we eliminate [early bird/late bird], those kids will be at a loss.”

Other parents expressed displeasure that after giving to the Burlingame Community Education Foundation (BCE) and voting for Measure E in support of smaller class sizes, the district is disregarding their wishes.

However, district administrators and officials assured parents small group instruction would continue, just through different models, such as breaking students into groups based on skill level during parts of the day, allowing them to get the individualized attention they need.

Teachers and principals present all expressed support for a full day program, although parents countered that teachers had no choice but to support eliminating early bird/late bird, a decision they said seemed to already have been made.

However, board members pointed towards the success of previously eliminating early bird/late for third graders and copious amounts of data they combed through to reach this conclusion.

“So much work and so much effort has gone into this,” said Trustee Liz Gindraux. “We have more data than we’ve ever had, we’ve had more conversations with teachers and principals than ever before…we have never been more prepared than we have been right now.”

Trustee Greg Land tried to reassure parents, saying regardless of change, he would continue to fight for small class sizes. Superintendent Maggie MacIsaac highlighted the impact of adding 22 days.

“I hear the parents, and I appreciate the parents,” said Board of Trustees President Michael Barber. “But I think we’ve come to the point where change in necessary.”