Early release Fridays approved to help Grafton teachers plan
Grafton schools will have early release days almost every Friday to give teachers additional time for planning.
The new half days were approved by the School Committee Wednesday, a week after Superintendent of Schools James Cummings reported that teaching staff are already in danger of burnout.
“It would essentially be every Friday through June 24,” Cummings said. “We’re trying to provide three hours of planning and collaboration.”
The hybrid learning schedule necessitated by the continuing COVID-19 pandemic has students alternating a week in the classroom with a week learning remotely, with some students opting for the entirely online Remote Learning Academy. This adds additional pressure and work for teachers while allowing for less collaboration with their peers.
Cummings said the schools will provide a to-go lunch program on every release day for students who need free and reduced lunch.
“I don’t think one half day a week is going to be the silver bullet,” Cummings said, acknowledging school plans will continue to evolve.
The revised calendar now includes the following half days for the rest of the school year:
October 9, 23, 30
November 20
December 11, 18
January 8, 15, 22, 29
February 5, 12, 26
March 5, 12, 19, 26
April 2, 9, 16, 30
May 7, 14, 21, 28
June 4, 11
“I think the teachers are going to be very happy about that planning time,” Cummings said. “They have been working unbelievably hard… I hope we never have to deal with a pandemic again, but if we did, we would make this a factor.”
School Committee member Elizabeth Spinney agreed that responding to the teachers’ requests for more planning time was the right thing to do but expressed concern about how it will affect childcare for parents.
“We will need to have quality over quantity,” she said.
Cummings said he did not believe this will be the last fix needed to get students and teachers through this unprecedented school year. He added that Grafton is not alone in facing these difficulties. “I haven’t talked to anyone in the state of Massachusetts in education who is saying ‘wow, this is awesome.’”
