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Teller Elementary School

Early Release Follow Up - A Letter from Mrs. Bates

01/05/24, 5:00 PM

Dear Teller Families,

The purpose of this letter is to address the concerns that have been brought to my attention regarding Teller’s decision to incorporate an early release day on Fridays during the 2024 - 2025 school year.

I'd like to begin by sharing my feelings of disappointment as well as hurt. I am disappointed by some of the responses we have received from Teller families upon learning about the early release days, and the hurt comes from how these responses have impacted the staff.

Below are some examples of the comments recently said to us by Teller families. I share these, recognizing they can be seen as adding fuel to the fire; however, I think it’s important for all Teller families to be aware of some of what’s being said and how damaging these statements are to me and my team.

“I get it, you guys just want Fridays off, way to go Teller!”
“Teller is such a disappointment.”
“You obviously don’t care about our kids.”
“So, you guys don't want to work Friday afternoon. We get it. Working parents are thrilled about the new school year schedule. I personally think you guys should take the whole Friday off.”
“Once again, teachers are trying to get out of work.”
“Do you even care about educating our kids?”
“Please tell me this is a joke. The kids barely get enough time to be schooled as it is.”

On the other hand, we had many families reach out with words of encouragement and support.

I acknowledge that a notable shift in the schedule may raise concerns. While I welcome additional questions and inquiries, I ask that families maintain a respectful and constructive tone when communicating, avoiding accusations or unkind language. It is imperative that we all come from a place of positive intentions.

Due to the sheer number of emails and calls received, I have decided to address the various questions via this letter in a Q & A format.

Question: When was the decision made to incorporate an early release for the 2024-2025 school year?

Answer: Every November, building leaders are asked to submit a bell schedule survey. This survey encompasses bell time requests, late-in or early release requests, and the length-of-day change requests. To ensure I submitted a bell schedule survey that encompassed the voice of the entire Teller staff, I asked our staff for input regarding our start and end times, in addition to late-in and early release options. The majority of our staff asked to return to the Tier 2 bell schedule (8:05 a.m. - 8:15 a.m. start time and 3:05 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. end time). The staff also requested an early release day. The district did not approve a shift to the Tier 2 bell schedule, but they did approve an early release day for the 2024-2025 school year.

Question: Who made the decision to incorporate an early release for the 2024-2025 school year.

Answer: The final decision was made by me after we were given district approval. To clarify, all Teller staff members were able to vocalize their preferences based on school-wide needs.

Question: When was the early release day approved?

Answer: We were informed that our early release day was approved on Tuesday, January 2, 2024. We informed all Teller families on Thursday, January 4, 2024.

Question: Why was Friday chosen as the early release day?

Answer: Our attendance records show that Fridays have the highest absenteeism rates. Moreover, there is a notable trend of families opting to pick up their children early on Fridays. Considering these factors, we selected Fridays for early release.

Question: Why weren’t Teller families asked for input regarding a late-in or an early release?

Answer: Teller families were not asked about a late-in or an early release because the decision regarding a late-in or early release is not a community decision.

Question: Why was the information regarding the early release sent out with the Intent to Return survey?

Answer: The reason the early release information was sent out with the Intent to Return survey was to ensure families had the most up to date information regarding our bell schedule as this change could impact decisions about returning to Teller for the 2024-2025 school year. Having learned that Teller was approved for early release Fridays on Tuesday, we wanted to make sure it was included on the next communication out to the community which was the PRIDE Post and the Intent to Return forms.

Question: Are there other schools throughout the district that have incorporated late-in or early release days?

Answer: Yes. This school year (2023-2024), there are a total of nine schools throughout the district that have incorporated a late-in and 83 schools that have incorporated an early release. You can view the list of late-in and early release schools here. As you can see from the list, Teller is not an anomaly. I suspect that more and more schools will be added to the late-in or early release list for the 2024-2025 school year.

Question: With the incorporation of an early release day each week, how is Teller going to meet the required 990 minutes of instructional minutes as outlined in state statute and board rules without lengthening the school day (Monday through Thursday) or adding additional school days?

Answer: Per state statute and board rules, Teller students have and will continue to receive more than the 990 instructional minutes outlined in state statute and board rules. Below is a breakdown of how we will continue to exceed the required 990 instructional minutes.

Total Number of Student Report Days for the 2024 - 2025 School Year = 174.5
- Total Number of Instructional Fridays for the 2024 - 2025 School Year = 33 X 4 Hours and 20 Minutes of Instruction = 144.1 Minutes
- Total Number of Instructional Days (Monday - Thursday) for the 2024-2025 School Year = 141.5 X 7 Hours = 990.5 Minutes
144.1 Minutes (Fridays) + 990.5 Minutes (Monday - Thursday) = 1,134.5 Minutes for the 2024-2025 School Year (still exceeding state statute and board rules by 144.5 minutes)

Question: My child has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and/or Advanced Learning Plan (ALP). How will you ensure they will continue to receive the same amount of service minutes with an early release.

Answer: Our special service providers will ensure that all student service minutes will be met and the master schedule will encompass these services. As it currently stands, our special services providers do not provide instructional minutes on Fridays.

Question: Will teachers and support staff get Friday afternoons off?

Answer: No. All staff will be required to work an eight hour day on Fridays. As stated in the initial letter, early release days will allow for Teller staff to plan lessons, conduct student data dives, engage in professional development training, develop strategies for student growth, and align with their colleagues about the curriculum. This is all to improve and support student outcomes and allow for staff to have time to do so.

Question: Can you elaborate on the reason behind this decision?

Answer: Yes! The most basic answer is that early release days offer valuable opportunities for our staff to engage in professional development, plan lessons, and conduct data analysis.

And…

As I have experienced in my tenure here at Teller, if I want to continue to hire and retain highly effective teachers, I must provide them with adequate time to do their jobs within their contracted hours.

During an eight hour work day, teachers are given a 40 minute planning period and a 45 minute duty-free lunch. Other than these two blocks of time, teachers are contracted to be with students. During their contracted planning period, teachers are participating in required data team meetings, feedback conversations, IEP/504 Plan/ALP meetings, parent/guardian meetings, responding to emails or phone calls, running copies, writing and revising lesson plans, grading assignments, meeting with grade level teams, or facilitating restorative conversations with students.

The amount of work required of teachers is impossible to complete during their contracted hours. In order for teachers to meet the needs of their students, they regularly work outside of their contracted hours, which means they are working without pay. Teachers deserve to be compensated for their time. In every other profession, if an employee completes work outside of their scheduled work hours, they are compensated. That is not the case for teachers, and I do not feel comfortable continuing to ask them to take time away from their families and personal lives to work for free.

In previous years, I worked to provide planning and work time to the Teller staff during our district-wide planning days. As of this year, district-wide planning and assessment days (non-student contact days) are pre-planned by the district which leaves no time to complete any other tasks during non-student contact days.

Question: How will science and social studies instruction be impacted by this change?

Answer: As we just received confirmation of the schedule change this week, we have not created a master schedule for the 2024-2025 school year. We can assure you however, that we will continue to meet all the required instructional minutes in all subject areas. We will work as a staff to adjust our instructional schedules to meet the needs of our students just as we have done every year.

Question: How does an early release address class size concerns?

Answer: It doesn’t and an early release has never been a solution to remedying large class sizes.

Question: Can you provide additional information on Discovery Link and/or after school enrichment offering and how they will be impacted due to this change?

Answer: Discovery Link and after school enrichments will both be available for the entire 2024-2025 school year.

Per their state license, Discovery Link at Teller has a maximum capacity of 150 students per day plus 30 students for ECE per day. Thankfully, the Discovery Link team offers calendar access to more families than that (around 250) so that a larger number of families can secure a spot for any given day. Their day to day capacity depends on a few things. The first being staffing. They have to uphold a 1:15 ratio for students and staff. If they are unable to meet that ratio they cannot function at certain capacities because it is a licensing and safety concern. Secondly, the state determines licensing capacities based on available spaces and if they qualify to be considered a licensed space. Based on those spaces there is a "maximum capacity limit." Meaning that, increasing the daily capacity (150 and 30) is not always possible.

As for enrichments, Teller runs an average of 30 enrichments each session and four to seven different programs on Fridays. We will be opening up more options and longer enrichment classes on Fridays to support families with after school activities.

Both fall enrichments and the 2024-2025 Discovery Link registrations will occur this year in the spring to support families in solidifying their schedules for the fall.

Question: Will lunch be served on Friday?

Answer: Yes! The staff voiced that they would prefer an early release over a late-in because it allows the opportunity to provide both breakfast and lunch to all students.

Question: Will there be a forum for parents to ask more questions about this decision?

Answer: No. As addressed above, this is not a community decision.

Teller works, and will continue to work, tirelessly to educate and support our students. For those of you who have been understanding and supportive of this decision, I want to thank you for trusting me and the Teller staff to make the right choices for our school and our students.

If you have additional questions, you are welcome to email me. I will work to respond to questions within 1-2 business days.

Sincerely,

Sabrina Bates, Principal