This is a story that aired on OETA Public Television's The Oklahoma News Report in Tulsa Oklahoma as reported by Cathy Tatom and photojournalist Edwin Wilson. For more information or to contact us, please go to the new and improved www.oeta.tv
The verbatim script follows below...
A FEW WEEKS AGO WE REPORTED ON SERIOUS CONCERNS RAISED WHEN PRUE SCHOOLS DECIDED TO SAVE MONEY BY LENGTHENING THE SCHOOL DAY, AND SHORTENING THE SCHOOL WEEK. PARENTS WORRIED ABOUT FINDING CHILD CARE. TEACHERS WONDERED IF KIDS COULD PAY ATTENTION THROUGH LONGER CLASSES... AND RETAIN WHAT THEY LEARNED WITH THREE DAY WEEKENDS EVERY WEEK. OETA'S CATHY TATOM TAKES US BACK TO PRUE FOR A PROGRESS REPORT.
THIS YEAR ALL THREE HUNDRED OR SO STUDENTS IN PRUE PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE SPENDING MORE TIME IN CLASS, BUT FEWER DAYS AT SCHOOL.
nats/teacher: "Chapter 5, section one." IN HOPES OF SAVING MONEY, THE DISTRICT ELIMINATED FRIDAY CLASSES... AND LENGTHENED THE SCHOOL DAY. EACH CLASS PERIOD IS NOW A FULL HOUR, INSTEAD OF 45-MINUTES.
Elisabeth Person/8th Grade: "When I first heard about it I didn't really like it, but now it's okay."
Tom Scully/Supt.: "It is kinda new to the State, but it's not really a new concept." SUPERINTENDENT TOM SCULLY SAYS THREE WEEKS INTO THE EXPARIMENT A LOT OF CONCERNS PARENTS AND TEACHERS HAD ABOUT THE CHANGES HAVE VANISHED. PARENTS HAVEN'T HAD TROUBLE FINDING DAYCARE FOR STUDENTS NOT IN SCHOOL ON FRIDAYS. AND TEACHERS DISCOVERED STUDENTS DON'T HAVE DIFFICULTY STAYING FOCUSED DURING THE LONGER CLASS PERIODS.
Scott Baker/History Teacher: "I thought that would be a problem." SCOTT BAKER TEACHES HISTORY. HE SAYS OTHER TEACHERS LOST THEIR CONCERNS THAT STUDENTS WOULDN'T LEARN AS MUCH OR DO AS WELL ON STANDARDIZED TESTS BY HAVING A THREE DAY WEEKEND EACH WEEK.
Scott Baker/History Teacher: "This class is my testing class, social studies class, but every day the focus has been on it more and when we used 45-minute classes and it would seem I'd just get going and all of a sudden we had to stop and with this having about 15 extra minutes, like I said I get to finish and I really think I'll cover more material this year with the longer hours." TURNING OFF LIGHTS, HEAT AND AIR ONE EXTRA DAY A WEEK IS EXPECTED TO LOWER THE DISTRICT'S UTILITY BILLS. GIVING STAFF AN EXTRA DAY OFF IS EXPECTED TO TRIM WHAT THE DISTRICT PAYS OUT FOR SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS. AND, IT'S EXPECTED TO REDUCE ABSENTEEISM AMONG STUDENTS.
Tom Scully/Supt: "They can do some of those things that they need to do on Friday when we're not having school." THINGS LIKE DOCTOR AND DENTAL APPOINTMENTS THAT OFTEN KEEP STUDENTS OUT OF CLASS HALF A DAY OR MORE DURING THE TRADITIONAL SCHOOL WEEK.
Cathy: "The district also anticipates having its buses parked one day a week will save it quite a bit of money, but just how much money is anybody's guess at this point."
Tom Scully/Supt.: "We've talked about 10 or 15% but honestly this is just an experiment this year. We're hopeful we can see some good savings but we just don't know for sure." AND WON'T UNTIL THE SCHOOL YEAR IS OVER AND THE EFFECTS OF THE 4-DAY WEEK ARE OFFICIALLY TALLIED UP. IN PRUE, I'M CATHY TATOM, THE OKLAHOMA NEWS REPORT.
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Richland 2 Supt. on 4-day school weekby bwarthen329 views
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