No more long summers? Some schools in Alachua County may implement year-round instruction

Some students attending Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) may be missing their long summers come next year, as the district is in the process of applying for a trial program that will establish year-round schools in some of the county’s schools.

It's unclear at this time which school would be impacted or how many, but the district has begun exploring the possibility.

Traditionally, year-round schools begin in mid-July, alternating between 10 weeks of instruction and two weeks off and ending around late May. That means summer is only around six weeks as opposed to nearly three months, which may allow for less learning loss. Some year-round schools also have extended school day hours.

School Board Member Kay Abbitt, who started a year-round school, Boulware Springs Charter School prior to being elected on the board, said her the model has produced some of the highest scores in the district at her school.

“It’s a model that works,” she said.

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House Bill 891 establishes the Year-round School Pilot Program, which allows the Department of Education (DOE) to aid school districts in the creation of a year-round school program for elementary schools. The program must be established in at least one elementary school in the district to study issues, benefits and schedule options for implementing year-round school programs for all students.

At least week's School Board meeting, Abbitt asked that Alachua County apply prior to the Nov. 1 deadline to be considered. Superintendent Shane Andrew confirmed the district was already working on it.

HB-891 requires the DOE to create an application process for school districts that includes specific data related to school enrollment, academic performance, absenteeism, tardiness and how the program will benefit the students in the elementary school(s) that will implement the program.

The bill requires the Commissioner of Education to select five school districts out of those that applied to participate in the program. These must represent a variety of demographics and include an urban, suburban and rural school district. The bill passed all subcommittees as well as Florida House and Senate votes in March. If Alachua County is chosen, the year-round school program would begin for the 2024-2025 school year and continue for four years.

Once the four-year pilot program is complete the commissioner must provide a report to the Legislature and Governor with data regarding participation and benefits of the program, barriers to implementing it and recommendations for statewide adoption.

“I’m only hoping that the district will get chosen to be one of the five in the state that are going to be able to do this program," Abbitt said.

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ACPS Spokesperson Jackie Johnson said the focus of this program would be on one or more of seven School Improvement (SI) school(s), or those in need of improvement with a low school grade for multiple years, in Alachua County. SI schools in the county are currently all elementary schools.

The district on Oct. 20 put out a bid to hire an external operator for the district's two lowest-performing elementary schools − Lake Forest and Idylwild. If the schools can bring up their overall state grade to a C, the district will continue to operate them.

Abbitt also said implementation of the program will have little impact on the district’s rezoning venture as most students zoned for SI schools would stay there.

“I have been a proponent of year-round schools and I’ve talked about it a lot,” she said during a board meeting Tuesday. “I think that we would be remiss if we did not put in an application to have one in our district.”

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Alachua County Public Schools year-round School Pilot Program