SFPS opts out of extended learning program
Apr. 9—Santa Fe Public Schools is passing up on state funds to add 10 days to the school calendar next year after a survey of teachers and families in the district showed little support for the initiative.
"The results are in and staff and parents have overwhelmingly voted in favor of returning to a traditional school calendar for 2022-2023," Superintendent Hilario "Larry" Chavez announced in a recent bulletin.
Earlier this year, Chavez said the district also would not participate in a similar state program, K-5 Plus, for the third year in a row.
K-5 Plus adds 25 summer days of instruction for students at elementary schools and is aimed at narrowing learning gaps for low-income kids.
Chavez said the district is seeking other ways to "help move the academic needle."
More than half of New Mexico's public school districts and 74 charter schools participated this year in Extended Learning Time, a 10-day program the state has touted as a way to boost student achievement, especially after two years of learning disruptions from the coronavirus pandemic. The New Mexico Public Education Department reported a 29 percent increase in participation in both extended learning programs as districts strove to make up for learning losses.
Long before the pandemic arrived, a study issued by the Legislative Finance Committee found a predecessor of K-5 Plus, called K-3 Plus, showed promising results when it came to closing achievement gaps.
The study prompted the state to expand the program. And in a landmark ruling in 2018 in the Yazzie/Martinez education lawsuit, a state district judge said programs that provide extra student learning time can help ensure groups of at-risk kids receive an adequate education.
But the programs have proved unpopular in Santa Fe.
The local district used state funds for Extended Learning Time to push the start of the current school year to early August 2021, sparking anger among some staff and parents who had been hoping to get the most out of their summer break after a fatiguing year of remote learning.
The 2022-23 school year will start Aug. 11 for staff and Aug. 17 for students, Chavez said at a school board meeting Thursday.
Santa Fe teachers union President Grace Mayer lauded the change. "Employees and community members are pleased with next year's calendar," she said at the board meeting.
Teachers who participate in the state's extended learning programs could see their income increase 3 percent.
Still, Mayer said in an interview last month many prefer the extra time off over the pay bump.
"I think people value, sort of, time with their families in a different way" after the pandemic, which kept families apart for long stretches of time, she said. "When you weigh that against a couple of thousand dollars, people are like, 'I'd rather [take] the time I have with my family.' "
Santa Fe Public Schools' decision to pull back from extended learning programs comes as educators across the U.S. are considering adding extra days and hours to the school year in response to achievement gaps pried wider apart by the pandemic's effects.
Extending the school calendar is not just contentious in Santa Fe.
Earlier this week, the Albuquerque school board voted against adding mandatory school days or hours after parents pushed back against a proposal.
Legislation that would have required districts to participate in extended learning programs failed to pass the Legislature in 2021.
This year, however, lawmakers approved a pilot program expanding K-5 Plus to middle school and high school students on a voluntary basis.
Data from the $43 million K-12 Plus pilot program will be used to examine the relationships between extended learning initiatives and academic achievement of low-income kids and other groups of students.
Districts with large populations of Native American students and rural districts with 200 or fewer students will be prioritized for the program when the state divvies funding.
