The move to make every Wednesday a one-hour late start hopes to give teachers more time for development
By Karen Miller
A change is coming to the Tacoma Public Schools calendar next year.
The district will have a one-hour late start every Wednesday beginning in the 2020-21 school year. The move is a way to create more planning and prep time for teachers and staff districtwide. There will not be extra student instruction during this time. Start times vary by school, and are all one hour later than the normal school bell.
Wednesday was the day chosen after a 2019 survey of families and staff, according to the district’s website.
The move will not apply to SOTA, SAMI, IDEA, Willie Stewart Academy or Remann Hall. Preschool will also not have a late start except Bryant and Geiger where classes follow the regular school schedule.
Sara Ketelsen, a math teacher at Baker Middle School and a member of the union board, said the change will be positive for teachers and administrators. Especially it will be a time to work together in groups to advance student development.
“It allows teachers within the school day to get together and have collaborative time,” she said.
For first year teachers, it will be especially important, she said.
Being a first year teacher in a new school can be “isolating,” said Ketelsen, and part of the late start is providing a first year teacher mentoring time with someone who has been at the school and teaching longer.
The change in schedule is part of the most recent collective bargaining agreement between Tacoma Public Schools and Tacoma Education Association. The move is not related to the Tacoma Sleepyhead movement which has been advocating for later start times to improve student health.
However, Ketelsen thinks the late start will be a positive for older students. Research does point to later start times being beneficial to the sleep hygiene of older students, she said.
Teachers are often pulled in other directions, said Ketelsen, including coaching, parenting, and personal time. This will allow development to be built into the learning day. Currently, that planning time is done outside of work hours and with other factors sometimes is hard to fit in. Especially, she said, that time to collaborate with other staff in the building. It’ll allow teachers to build into their lessons what they discuss with other staff. That hasn’t been available in the past.
“We [teachers] are consistently building the plane while flying it,” she said.
Ketelsen has worked in Tacoma Public Schools for 13 years, including time at both Lincoln High School and Baker.
Other districts around the Puget Sound region have also switched to weekly late start, one of which is Fife where Tacoma parent Diana Busch is now a licensed practical nurse. She previously worked as a nurse for the Tacoma School District and her two children attend Tacoma Schools.
Busch said the late starts will give teachers crucial planning time, something she’s noticed in her new district.
“I anticipate this being positive for (Tacoma) staff,” she said.
It allows time for things like paperwork and consulting with other teachers. That was the biggest difference Busch saw when moving to Fife. In Tacoma it was sometimes hard to fit in administrative tasks during the day.
“There was… minimal time when I was at work without students,” Busch said. “It’s incredible how much easier (late start) felt.”
While this is a positive for teachers, Busch said it could put a strain on families, especially those who commute. The district will not provide childcare for the late start days.
The district said on its website that it has communicated with daycares and community partners about the late start, but it is up to those groups to decide what services will be provided.
The school year begins September 9, a Wednesday, but will not include a late start. The first late start will be September 16.
As of now, schools are not in session until at least April 24 due to coronavirus concerns. It is not yet known how this might affect the coming school year.
The school district was unable to comment on the start time change due to the coronavirus outbreak and forced closure of schools. The district did refer to an FAQ available on its website for more information.