School day to increase by 10 minutes next year | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

That's how long the school day will be extended next year, said school officials who recently decided the extra instructional time will be good for students.

Schools Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell made the decision about a month ago, said schools spokesman Bob Mosier.

"The superintendent and directors have been looking at a wide variety of options to increase instructional time," Mr. Mosier said.

The change will affect elementary, middle and high school students, and will be added to the end of each school day, so students won't start the school day any earlier than this year, said Oscar Davis, chief negotiator for the school system.

Because the decision was made recently, many school administrators don't know yet what part of the day will be lengthened. Each school will decide how to schedule the extra time, Mr. Davis said.

At Central Middle School in Edgewater, Principal Mildred Beall said she is collecting input from her teachers about how to schedule the time. The 10 minutes could be spaced out, lengthening each class by a couple of minutes, or it could be added to advisory periods, where students get extra help with their schoolwork.

"There are lots of ways we could use it, but we want it to be a valuable 10 minutes," she said.

Her staff wants to find a creative use that will make a difference for students, she said.

But the 10-minute increase could hurt teachers who already struggle with not enough planning time, said Bill Jones, executive director of the local teachers' union.

In addition, county teachers are in the middle of a three-year contract that two years ago increased their workday by two hours. The contract includes a provision that allows the superintendent to lengthen the student day, but doing so will take away time that teachers need for planning, Mr. Jones said.

The superintendent can increase the student day by up to one hour, he said.

"Just because he (Mr. Maxwell) can, doesn't mean it's the right thing to do," he said.

Teachers now have 470 minutes of planning time each week, Mr. Jones said. That will drop to 420 next year, which will force teachers to take even more work home than they do now, he said. That could hurt the county's efforts to recruit and retain teachers in an already tight hiring market.

"Workload is driving teachers right out of the county, and it seems odd that they're lengthening the teacher workweek now," Mr. Jones said. "I'm sure the superintendent thinks he needs it, but I'm anxious to see what it does to turnover."