Swampscott elementary schools to extend days

SWAMPSCOTT – As of September the elementary school day will be lengthened by 10 minutes and the teachers union has asked for mediation.Superintendent Matthew Malone, who was not in the office on Thursday, had his staff issue a press release announcing new start times for the 2008/2009 academic year.This year the elementary schools were in session from 8:30 a.m. until 2:15 p.m. And this fall the schools will be in session from 8:20 a.m. until 2:15 p.m.Swampscott Education Association President Paul Maguire said the union has been in negotiation with Malone for several months over the additional 10 minutes a day of instructional time. He pointed out the contract requires teachers to be in the building from 8:15 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. And that would not change.”Obviously we agreed to negotiate to add 10 minutes to the day,” he said. “Teachers will come in at the same time and just start the instructional day earlier. We’re not bargaining for financial compensation. We’re bargaining for guaranteed preparation time. We have filed for mediation with the state labor board. We are asking for a third party to make a non-binding decision. “School Committee Chairman David Whelan said 10 minutes was added to the school day at the elementary level to bring the district into compliance with state law.”It’s a very simple issue,” he said. “State law mandates kids spend 900 hours of classroom time being taught by a teacher. For many years, well before Matt (Malone) was involved in the district, we were not in compliance with the 900-hour minimum. Matt (Malone) created a schedule that gets us to 911 hours.”Whelan said the change is not popular with some of the teachers and the Swampscott Education Association.”Obviously there is some discontent with the decision on behalf of some of the teachers,” he said. “My thought on this is we have no choice but to comply with the state law. I see this as a non-negotiable issue. “The length of the day remains the same at the middle school and high school but the start and dismissal times are being changed. The middle school was in session from 8:15 a.m. until 2:35 p.m. this year and in the upcoming academic year the school day is slated to run from 7:55 a.m. until 2:15 p.m.High school students will be in class from 8:10 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. this fall, which is a change from the 7:55 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. school day this year.Malone was unavailable for comment on Thursday but at several School Committee meetings in the past year he has said data clearly shows high school students perform better later in the day than they do first thing in the morning.There were several parents present at a couple of the School Committee meetings who expressed concern about high school students getting out later than the elementary and middle school because they relied on the older students to watch their younger siblings in the afternoon.