3 Concord schools must increase class time

Concord school officials have begun the task of tacking on just under 32 hours of classroom time to the school year at each of the town's three elementary schools after an investigation revealed they have not been meeting state guidelines for years.

The schools -- Alcott, Willard, and Thoreau -- have a total of 868.29 hours each of learning time a year, about 31 1/2 hours short of state requirements, Assistant Superintendent Diana Rigby said. That total was compiled during a review this summer prompted by teacher complaints of not enough classroom time.

''Time is always a significant issue to teachers. . . . . They felt they didn't have enough instructional time to implement the curriculum," said Rigby, who came to the school district 2 1/2 years ago. ''So this summer we researched how much instructional time our teachers have and we actually found we're 32 hours short."

All elementary schools in the state must have at least 900 hours of instructional time during each 180-day school year, a requirement that was mandated by the state Department of Education in 1998, according to a department's time and learning report. Those hours cannot include recess, lunch, time between classes or study hall.

The education department often works with districts that are having a hard time maintaining their required instructional hours, spokeswoman Heidi Perlman said. She said she had not heard of Concord's difficulties.

''Obviously it's expected that districts are going to comply with the law," Perlman said. ''We're not the time and learning police. We rely on districts to report to us that they're meeting the requirements."

Rigby said it's unclear how long Concord's elementary schools have been out of compliance.

The current school schedule, in place since the 1960s, has elementary students going to school from 9 a.m. to 3:20 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Students have a half-day on Tuesday, when they go to school from 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

Rigby said the short Tuesday schedule was originally designed for conferences and professional development, but staff only use six of those days all year long.

Concord is working on reaching the mandated number of 900 hours by the start of the 2006-2007 school year, Superintendent Brenda Finn said.

''We will of course take the steps needed to make sure our schools meet the state guidelines for instructional time," she said. ''It will take planning."

That planning began last week with a meeting to discuss where to put the extra hours, Finn said.

Changes to the schedule at all three schools will be made with input from the Concord Teachers Association, parents, principals, and the School Committee, Rigby said. Options include adding time to all school days or just Tuesdays.

What may cause problems is reconfiguring the school bus schedule without altering schedules at Concord Middle School and Concord-Carlisle Regional High School, said School Committee chairman Jerry Wedge . He said he also expects to hear from some parents and teachers, who will speak out against lengthening Tuesdays.

''It's a tricky thing. We've got to meet the law and that probably means changing past practices, which is never fun," said Wedge.