Sophomore Braxdon Knight was late to work for the first two weeks of school.
“I had to change my schedule from starting at 3 to 3:30, which I didn’t know about until it was too late,” Knight said. “I did not even know why [the school] changed the schedule.”
Knight was not the only one with questions surrounding the schedule change.
“It definitely felt like it was sudden,” math teacher Mason Frost said. “I think I have as many questions as anyone else about why this happened. I thought that the whole schedule change was to meet a requirement of the state at first.”
Although USD 305 extended elementary school days in order to meet state requirements in April 2024, this change had different motivations, English teacher and former NEA Salina President Sarah Byarlay said.
Over the summer, NEA Salina negotiated with USD 305 for the 2024-2025 teacher contracts. One of NEA Salina’s suggested changes was to add 15 minutes to each school day in order to create more vacation days during the school year.
Byarlay proposed the change, citing hiring competitiveness as a motivating factor.
“We are so desperate to bring teachers into these buildings, to bring subs, to bring anybody to this district to fully staff our buildings,” Byarlay said. “One of the ways we need to do that is to make things more fair and more equitable [compared] to the districts around us.”
Previously, USD 305 had significantly more school days on the calendar than surrounding school districts, as well as shorter days that affected hourly employees, Byarlay said.
“The state of Kansas still requires that you have to be in a classroom setting, learning for 1,117 hours throughout the school year,” Byarlay said. “We had to make that fit and still have a short enough school year that would bring people in.”
Fifteen minutes were added to each school day, which allowed for six school days to become vacation days. Five minutes were added to each of the four daily class blocks, for a total of 20 minutes. ELO was shortened by five minutes to accommodate this.
As a result of the schedule change, this school year there is no school on Nov. 1, and there is a full week off for Thanksgiving.
“In the past [Thanksgiving break] has only been three days,” Byarlay said. “We can enjoy Halloween, and we have extra days off in January and in April [this year].”
The change was received with mixed reactions.
“I did not like it,” Knight said. “It felt like it came out of nowhere and it was not very convenient for my schedule.”
Senior Olivia Owings liked the change.
“As soon as I heard about it, I was immediately fond of the idea,” Owings said. “I think the extra 15 minutes is not noticeable, and the additional days off are much more beneficial. I especially like that we will have an entire week off for Thanksgiving break.”
Students involved with after-school practices are affected by the later end times, Owings said.
“When we reach swim season in the spring, I am sure the new schedule will make practice seem a lot longer,” Owings said. “It already ended pretty late without it.”
Frost said he was neutral about the schedule change, though he did have some concerns.
“Now that we have that extra five minutes, it does kind of throw off your lesson plans,” Frost said. “You can not really plan for it, because what are you going to do for five minutes at the end of the class?”
Teachers now have the same amount of material with fewer classes to cover it in.
“I would say [the extra days off] are probably for the better, but it is just kind of a pain every day when teachers have to stay for an extra 10 minutes,” Frost said. “It is not necessarily bad, it is not necessarily good, it is just a change.”
Last year, teachers were required to stay for 10 minutes after dismissal, but this year the requirement is 15 minutes. Frost pointed out that this makes it easier for students to visit teachers after school.
Overall, Byarlay received more than 400 emails regarding the schedule change over the summer.
“A lot of people were not happy with me about it,” Byarlay said, “but I have heard very few complaints since the year started.”
So far, one quarter of the school year is completed. The extra days off are still in the future.
“Ask me when we get to Thanksgiving break,” Frost said. “I will say yes, I love this.”
