Swampscott may send students to study halls instead of hiring substitutes

SWAMPSCOTT-Letting high school students have study halls instead of substitute teachers is an idea that could implemented this fall.Superintendent Matthew Malone, who is trying to balance the district budget without cutting programs, said some of his best ideas for saving money came from students and eliminating substitute teachers was one of those ideas.?I was in the weight room and some of the kids were talking about ways to save money,” he said. “Eliminating substitutes was one of the ideas presented by the kids.”Malone said he would be implementing the policy of eliminating substitute teachers at the high school level, with the exception of long term substitutes, this fall.Malone said he recommended the policy change at the high school level only. He said when teachers are absent, students would be sent to a study hall instead of leaving them in their scheduled class with a substitute teacher. Malone said students pointed out most high school classes are in areas of specialization, which substitutes may not be skilled at.?The kids said substitute teachers are a waste of time at the high school level,” he said. “I would agree with that.”Malone said the high school, which currently has one full time permanent substitute teacher on staff, could keep two permanent substitute teachers on staff, who could be used to fill in for long term teacher absences. Utilizing two permanent substitute teachers and placing students in study halls would save approximately $55,000 a year.?If a teacher was only out for a day or two the students could be placed in study halls instead of putting a substitute in the classroom,” he said. “They could work on class assignments in the study hall.”School Business Manager Ed Cronin said given the current budget, he expects the new policy to put in place in the upcoming academic year.One question that has not been addressed, however, is the Department of Education (DOE) mandate for 990 hours a year of “on learning” time for high school students and whether the time spent in study halls would count as “on learning” time.Cronin said he was unsure how assigning students to study halls when teachers are absent would affect on learning time requirements set by the DOE.