Middle schools to have early-release days next year

Okaloosa County middle school students will join elementary students in nine early-release days during the 2010-11 school year.

The students will be released from school two hours early on the first Thursday of every month so teachers can have time for training.

“Middle schools had no available time in their day for professional development,” said Superintendent of Schools Alexis Tibbetts. “Our teachers have to have time to be effectively trained.”

The early release for middle schools comes two years after the school district began letting elementary schools out early for the same reason.

Unlike high school instructors, middle and elementary school teachers don’t have time during the school day for training. Instead, they train before school and after school, and occasionally take a day off.

Thorough professional development is especially important for middle school teachers because studies have shown that is a critical time in students’ cognitive learning process, Tibbetts said.

“We believe it’s going to be a huge, huge benefit to middle school,” said Pryor Middle Principal Marcus Chambers. “This release time is going to provide our teachers … with the critical professional development we need to move forward as a school and as a school district.”

Middle school teachers have been asking for training time for several years, he said.

But parents such as Melissa Simmons have some concerns.

The big problem with releasing middle-school aged students early, she said, is that although the law states they are old enough to stay home alone, youths that age are still very young and often must be supervised to avoid trouble. Day care isn’t an option because most places do not accept students by the time they have reached the sixth grade.

“As a parent, I will do what it takes to take care of my child, but the sad point is I’m afraid for many parents it’s going to infringe on their job and their ability to do their jobs well because they are worried about their children, or their worried about the impact it’s going to have on their job if they have to schedule another half day off,” Simmons said.

The issue will be dealt with on a school-by-school basis, Tibbetts said.

At Pryor, for example, the school will work closely with the Boys and Girls Club nearby, Chambers said.

“If it’s increasing the quality of the school system … by having teachers better trained in the classroom … I think most parents would embrace that. I certainly would,” Tibbetts said. “I realize it’s a sacrifice for some parents, but nine (early-release) times is something that I think is worth it for the children.”

Simmons said she agreed additional training for teachers was good, but she wasn’t sure cutting school days short was the best way to get it.

“Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m right. I don’t know,” Simmons said. “But when you are talking about an age-group that is falling in the bounds of possible responsibility to be cared for because they’re vulnerable … it just kind of throws a whole kink in it.”