TUSD ends year-round school schedule experiment

The state AIMS test is the final blow to the extended-year calendar, one administrator says.

MARY BUSTAMANTE
April 18, 2005

Tucson Unified School District's experiment with an extended school year ends this year as the last three schools on the special calendar join the district's 100-plus other schools on a regular August- to-May schedule.

"When we went to year-round in the '90s, there were different requirements from the state," said principal supervisor Maria Patterson. "We weren't dealing with the AIMS test. Now we can't afford to have students miss the 25 days of instruction that they are off at Christmastime and the two weeks in the spring, which is very close to when AIMS is administered."

Wakefield Middle School and Mission View and Hollinger elementaries, all South Side schools, were the last to stay on the schedule, which includes a break from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day and a two-week break near Easter.

Extended-year schools are in session until late June.

The district implemented the extended year, referred to in other districts as year-round school, in order to improve student achievement and reduce absenteeism.

But Patterson, previously a staunch supporter of extended year - who has been principal at both Hollinger and Wakefield - said there was no conclusive evidence the elongated year boosted achievement and the attendance. "On the contrary. It was endangering it," she said.

Part of the appeal of the extended calendar were intercessions, classes during the long break that students were encouraged to attend. But Patterson said "the ones who needed intercession classes the most for instruction are the ones who don't attend."

"There has been some growth," Patterson said. "Hollinger had growth in academic achievement, but we can't attribute it to intercessions or year-round in general." She said she thinks very dedicated, focused teachers are making the difference.

"The community has been supportive of keeping extended days, but parents understood the need for those 25 instructional days in the winter," Patterson said.

Patterson said she didn't know the exact figures, but expected there would be some cost savings by not having the schools open in June.

Other TUSD schools that had been on extended year include: Johnson Primary, Lawrence Intermediate and Kellond, Pueblo Gardens, C. E. Rose and Keen elementaries. Keen closed for good at the end of last school year's extended year. The other schools went to the traditional calendar within the last few years.