RICHMOND, Va. -- It took some adjusting for their family, but Anthony Smith said his son, Ayden, was excited to head back to school in July.
Ayden goes to Fairfield Elementary in the city's East End, one of two schools taking part in RPS 200 — the closest Richmond Schools has gotten to an extended school year.
"It’s been crazy, but it’s been worth it, though," Smith said. "He’s been ready to go back since day one. I’m excited to see how he does this year.”
The RPS 200 program is designed to combat learning loss from COVID-19 school closures and summer break.
Researchers have said shortening summer break helps students better retain information from their classrooms, but debate over whether that actually happens has been hotly debated, especially in Richmond.
Smith said he likes the idea of an extended school year for Ayden.
"I hope it keeps him motivated to keep going to school. I know when I was in school, summer did kind of drag. It didn’t help you out when you needed it the most, once you came back in September," he said.
RPS has debated the issue of extending instructional days for several years, and the pilot program with just two schools is as far as it has gotten.
The national publication ProPublica recently profiled the debate in Richmond surrounding extending the school year for a piece detailing how schools are trying to combat learning loss.
Surveys of RPS families have been split on whether an extended or year-round calendar is something the district should pursue.
In fact, for RPS 200, two of the four schools that were offered the potential to take part declined after parents and teachers voted against it.
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney and supporters of the extended school year argue the school environment is the best place to combat learning loss, citing research.
Backers said test scores and community wellness indicators will show the success of RPS 200 in the coming months and years.
"These kids have fallen behind and the 20 extra days to catch them up, I think matters," Stoney said. "It is my hope that you’ll see progress and that we understand progress is good. That should be result of this investment RPS is making in our kids.”
Opponents of extended school calendars said RPS has enough under-funded needs, that adding additional instructional days only exacerbates those problems.
"Success for a program like this isn’t measured in a year, but unfortunately it was funded with federal dollars that aren’t available next year," said Keny Gibson, one of the RPS School Board members who voted against RPS 200. "Our district will be faced with a difficult budget cycle as we consider continuing programs like this alongside keeping mental health professionals and other staff that were also funded with non-recurring stimulus funds.“
The Richmond Education Association (REA), the union representing RPS teachers, said they have not taken an official position on the 200 day pilot, but in a statement said surveys of RPS families and teachers in the past show many prefer a traditional calendar.
"REA will continue to advocate for improving the quality of our students, members, and fellow workers' time in schools, not just extending the quantity of that time," the statement said.
Smith said he and his family did have to adjust, but Ayden's educational success was ultimately worth the price.
"We were a little thrown off, but we just accept it for what it is. It’s life," Smith said. "It’s our future, so we have to catch them up on everything they’re behind on. In order to make sure everything goes the way we want it to go.”
The only data available for how the RPS 200 program is going at both schools comes from a presentation the administration was set to give the school board at the August 7 meeting.
The meeting was canceled because of severe weather threats.
The presentation showed the attendance rate for the first week of school at both Cardinal Elementary and Fairfield Elementary. It hovered near 90% at Cardinal each day and a little less than 75% at Fairfield. The data only encompassed one week, and officials said judging the ultimate success or failure of the program would take much longer.
Below you can read in full the statements from Gibson, REA, and Jonathan Young, a school board member who backs the year-round or extended school calendar.
“I am hopeful that the students participating in the 200 day program have a great year. As the year progresses, both academic performance and attendance during the summer and throughout the traditional school year will be important metrics. Ultimately though, success for a program like this isn’t measured in a year, but unfortunately it was funded with federal dollars that aren’t available next year. Our district will be faced with a difficult budget cycle as we consider continuing programs like this alongside keeping mental health professionals and other staff that were also funded with non-recurring stimulus funds.
It’s heartbreaking that our full year school program began weeks after experiencing loss of life at a graduation. In that reality, safety must come first. My focus for the budget will be ensuring the health and wellness of every student and staff member in the district. After building fires and gun violence it should be clear to everyone that we have to prioritize the basics.”
"The Richmond Education Association (REA) has never taken an official position on the 200 day pilots. In the past, RPS survey results on calendar options, including a year round calendar, showed that staff and families preferred a traditional calendar. REA will continue to advocate for improving the quality of our students’, members', and fellow workers' time in schools, not just extending the quantity of that time. Expanding the calendar pilot should be considered only alongside other options including funding more positions to reduce class sizes, expanding access to preschool, giving raises to employees like office associates who did not receive raises in 2022-2023, or fully staffing and fully funding our schools. Going forward, any decisions to extend the school day or year should be made with REA as well as our community at the table."
First, let me begin by sharing that this morning was terrific at Fairfield Court! I was so pleased to see so many students arrive with smiles! Second, today was a long time coming! Yours truly campaigned in part on year round school in 2016. Third, the obvious metrics relate to reading, writing and arithmetic and will most be evident in PALS along with what we and the state used to call MAP data pertinent to growth. However, other and no less metrics will regard absenteeism or what used to be called truancy and a more difficult variable to measure, i.e. relationship building, and if we are meeting the customer where they are at. I should note that one tangible way we measure the preceding regards our customer satisfaction survey. Said survey is completed by students, teachers and parents. If we execute this initiative correctly, we should see improved scores as it relates to all three groups, and what's more we should see a decrease in year over year teacher attrition. Fourth and related regards my real objective: specifically, the recurring critique relevant to extending the year and adding more time regarded doubling down on what we are already doing. If that is all that happens I will be the first to acknowledge defeat along with my objection but instead the 200 Day program is intended at least for me to be the camel nose underneath the tent! It is intended to demonstrate to RPS what school is really supposed to look like! It is supposed to be hands-on, experiential, small group, customer friendly, child specific fun that incorporates trial and error, gaming, field trips, competition, learning by doing, and a lot of time outside of the traditional classroom. If we do the preceding, we will succeed, and I will push hard to augment this initiative to incorporate even more of our schools! I have no reservation in conveying that I believe all of our schools should adopt extended calendars with additional days. At RPS we spend in a year more than a half a billion dollars or the equivalent of $25k per capita. We have the resources to do this, it’s on us to make it happen but for today I celebrate two terrific schools for their willingness to do something different!
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