Questions & Comments from the May 1^st Special Board Meeting

These are ideas that need consideration, more research, more thought, or more number crunching. The comments in blue are the response of the 4-day week committee. If you don’t see a comment that was made, or you have thought of something else to be added here, please email hharper@whitehallmt.org

Ideally, the information on this page will grow as the discussion continues, so keep checking back!

Question: Where would the cuts be if we went with traditional budget cuts?

We’re working on it…

Question: What are the specific dollar amounts to be saved in converting to a four-day week?

We will try to provide specific dollar amounts. Please be aware that contracts change, wages change, gas prices change, staff illness varies and even the weather variables influence these numbers. Whatever we project will NOT be exact. Then we will be in trouble for that…

Check back and we’ll post what we have.

Question: Are there other revenue sources, perhaps grants?

There are grants out there, and we will continue to pursue grants. There are some budget specifics that can make grants less attractive than the idea of “free money.” Schools always need help with grant chasing, writing, and compliance. If you are interested in helping out or taking charge, please let us know.

Question: Are there possibilities for shortening the actual day for K-5?

Maybe!  This is something we haven’t discussed. Immediately, it would seem to require more bus runs, which is less savings, but this is something to look at.

Question: Why don’t you survey parents?

We will! Our hope is that people will get some information, think about it, ask some questions, and then make a decision. A survey of uninformed families isn’t worth much. The format still needs to be decided, and the wording, etc.

Question: If we adopted the four-day week, would it be a trail-run year, a two-year adoption, or what?

We haven’t talked about his, but when a vote was taken, the time frame and evaluation period expectations would have to be set…

Question: What are the figures for projected enrollment? We need to know this so we can estimate dollars lost.

We will post the number of students in each grade so people can see the coming trends. It is more difficult to predict numbers of entering kindergarteners of future years.

Question: Can the K-8 “specials” (which means music, art, PE, other non-core areas) be strategically scheduled within a student’s day the way that some schools have done it?

As much as possible. However, some shared elective staff is scheduled between the MS and HS, so there are multiple factors to be considered.

Question: Can we add routes so the bus rides are not as long and the longer days are more manageable?

Maybe. Again, adding routes seems to go against the fewer routes are fewer dollar idea, but maybe that isn’t true, or maybe that is worth spending a little more on. We will look into it.

Question: There are other calendar options like a straight cut of the extra days currently in the schedule. Have you considered those?

Only a little. Grades 6-8 are currently attending 1127 hours of class, and the OPI requirement as of last year requires a minimum of 1080. The committee needs to look at this. The reason a straight cut differs from the 4-day proposal is that the 4-day proposal includes teaching differently for better results. As straight cut wouldn’t allow for that difference. We need to evaluate this more closely.

Question: When would staff development on the shift in teaching styles take place?

Usually there are 2 optional PIR days in the summer that many staff attend instead of the October conference days. If a decision was made to adopt the 4-Day week, those days could be used to provide training. Other options are the days before school begins It didn’t make sense to plan the training when the 4-day idea is still in the introductory phases.

Comment: Keep in mind that beginning the day earlier means that bus pickups begin earlier.

Comment: It is possible that the loss of revenue from the mine will be replaced as Whitehall becomes a bigger and bigger bedroom community.

Comment: Sleep is critical in young people, and lengthening the day could affect the amount of sleep student get.

Comment: Everyone should be calling their legislators to express their dissatisfaction with school funding from the state.

Click on this link to go to the Montana Legislature site and get information.    http://leg.mt.gov/css/default.asp