Year-Round Classes, Ending Early Dismissal Discussed As AACPS Seeks Flexibility

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — Should Anne Arundel County Public Schools have year-round classes? Should AACPS eliminate early dismissals to shorten the academic year? Should there be some other form of flexible scheduling?

A workgroup is considering these questions for AACPS. The talks are exploratory for now. Officials said a state law change would be necessary for some suggestions.

"The Innovative School Scheduling Workgroup has been meeting since September and has been exploring a number of different models found both in the United States and abroad as Anne Arundel County Public Schools continues to seek the calendar flexibility for which we have advocated over the last two-plus years," AACPS spokesperson Bob Mosier told Patch in a Tuesday email.

One flashy but controversial suggestion is swapping the months-long summer recess for more frequent, albeit shorter, breaks. The hypothetical schedule would have quarters or trimesters followed by brief vacations.

The workgroup's preferred model is the 45-weekday quarters followed by 15 weekdays of vacation. The trimesters would be 60 weekdays followed by a 20-weekday break.

Both plans equate to the current 180 days of classroom time. Holiday schedules would still need to be ironed out.

The workgroup thinks benefits of year-round classes include:

• Reducing summer learning loss
• Reducing teacher and student burnout
• Assisting families with childcare
• Allowing intersessions during breaks in the school year
• Allowing wrap-around services all year

On the other hand, the group pointed out a few drawbacks.

A year-round calendar would incur additional costs for staffing and operating schools. Group members also found little correlation between academic performance and year-round classes in other countries. The lack of a traditional summer recess would disrupt tourist economies as well.

Though eye-catching, year-round classes are not the workgroup's primary focus. Such a calendar would face an uphill battle and require the most change.

The workgroup also discussed these schedules:

• Condensing the school year by eliminating early dismissal days
• Extending the school day, week or year
• Shortening the school week with an extra day off either weekly or biweekly

"The Board of Education and [Superintendent] Dr. [Mark] Bedell have been clear in their desire for calendar flexibility to eliminate the use of early dismissal days in the school calendar and allow for more innovative approaches to educating our students," Mosier said. "The General Assembly has failed to pass legislation in each of the last two years that would provide that flexibility. This group’s work is aimed at engaging a broader and more diverse group of stakeholders to generate more ideas that it believes merits further discussion."

The public can comment on the proposals by contacting Grace Wilson at gawilson1@aacps.org.

"The group will produce a report in the near future summarizing its work," Mosier said. "In any case, nothing substantial can happen without the General Assembly enacting changes in state law."

Public comment is due by Oct. 28. The workgroup must approve its report by Oct. 31 and submit it to the legislature by Nov. 1.

More information is posted at aacps.org/page/innovativescheduling.