Q: Can you share any information about what the school district is considering with regards to the new requirements for school start times?
A: I’ve had lots of community feedback on this issue. Right now, it looks very favorable for the upcoming legislative session, which will be considering a House Bill and a companion Senate Bill that would return start time decisions to local districts. We have the support of our local delegation for this. It is still a good idea for parents to continue to contact their legislators through March to let their voices be heard as this decision is made.
Q: What insight can you provide on the proposed changes to scheduling for next year?
A: At our workshop today [interview date of Feb. 11], the superintendent told us he is leaning towards a seven-period day for middle school since this is the preference of middle school teachers and he’s leaning towards a 3X3 block plus one skinny period schedule for high school. This means high school students would have three classes one day for a longer period of time and then another three classes per day for this longer period of time. In addition, they would have one shorter class daily.
Q: Why are these schedule changes being considered?
A: First of all is the budget. Both of these proposed schedules would provide seven classes per year, which will save money yet still provide the required credits needed for graduation. Secondly, it would address teacher vacancies that we are experiencing. The number of teachers would not be reduced, just the number of vacancies. Finally, it would allow for all teachers to have parity in planning.
Q: Can you comment on the recently received NAEP and FAST test scores?
A: First on the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress): this is a national test and random students’ scores are chosen and then the results are compared to other similarly sized districts. Due to this random nature, there is really no way for us to measure or to analyze the data. We will continue all the work we do to improve student outcomes.
For the FAST: these are progress monitoring results and constituents should know when looking at the scores, they represent a percentage of students who are already showing grade level proficiency for the end of the year test. So these are actually decent scores that we received, but of course we are hopeful that they will go up significantly from here.
Q: Do you have anything else to share with District 7?
A: Currently the school board is debating the means of parental permission for health and sex education curriculum. Currently we utilize an “opt-out” decision, but in the interest of transparency, we are considering going to “opt-in / opt-out.” So this would require a decision to be made by parents one way or another. We are looking for an easy and accessible way for parents to accomplish this. Parents should send me or all board members their feedback on this.
Q: How can our readers contact you?
A: They can email me at BolducM@duvalschools.org or call me at (904) 390-2375.
