Billerica School Committee rejects proposal to extend school day by 30 minutes
BILLERICA - After a three-hour school committee meeting, the Billerica school committee voted to reject a proposal that would extend the school day by 30 minutes.
Discussions launched over the summer when the teachers' union was in contract negotiations with the school committee. The two groups agreed to extend the workday from 6.5 hours to 7 hours, and as a result, discussions began about what to do with the additional 30 minutes.
The superintendent proposed an extension of the school day, with some time in the morning and some in the afternoon.
But many parents felt in the dark about the proposal, not necessarily bothered by an extended school day but by an alleged lack of transparency surrounding the proposal. "I'm not going to die on the hill of 30 minutes," said Brandon Gonzales. "It's just a hasty rush and nontransparent the way it's been done."
The superintendent and school district then sent out surveys to all families, which revealed mixed reviews about the proposal.
In addition, the proposal created a number of half days in which paraprofessionals would be responsible for childcare after school ended instead of attending professional development. "I was shocked," paraprofessional Allison Bucci told WBZ. "I actually kind of feel like this is surreal, this can't be happening...we couldn't believe that our job is being simplified to that of a babysitter essentially. And I felt like we were being devalued. I felt like what we do doesn't matter."
The superintendent said in the meeting that the proposal would create more learning time to address students' academic and social emotional needs. However, several members of the school committee were bothered by a lack of information and direct answers, saying they only received the proposal on Monday, one day before they were set to vote.
After a contentious public comment period and meeting which had some audience members calling out to the school committee from their seats, the measure failed to reach a majority of votes.
Superintendent Tim Piwowar told WBZ with the failed vote, the measure is dead and will not be revisited.