Early-out Mondays start Aug. 29 for Hillsborough students

The last bell will ring an hour earlier than usual on Mondays when Hillsborough County schools start Aug. 23.

Every Monday, except holidays, will be an early release day, when students get to go home early and their teachers get additional time on the clock to plan lessons, meet with other teachers and discuss students' work.

School board members approved the new schedule in April.

"I think that it will be more convenient for parents," said Justin Madison, a 16-year-old Robinson High junior.

But Madison, the student body vice president, said some classmates are skeptical about the change.

"It's not much out of our schedules," he said, noting more students seemed to favor the previous early release policy that had them getting out of school two hours earlier every few weeks.

"They liked how it was," he said.

Deliah Autry, a junior in Robinson's rigorous International Baccalaureate program, said students will adjust.

"It's going to feel really weird," the 15-year-old basketball player said. "But anytime we get out of school early is fine with me."

Aug. 29 is the first early release day, with dismissals varying depending on the school. For the most part, high-schoolers will be released at 2 p.m., middle-schoolers at 3:15 p.m. and elementary students at 1:15 p.m.

Families who aren't already participating in the district's after-school program can register at their schools and pay $20 a month for after care on early release days, district spokeswoman Linda Cobbe said.

Children whose parents haven't registered by Aug. 29 will still be accepted, Cobbe said.

Early release days are still subject to negotiations with local school employee unions, with a target date set for the end of the month, but they are listed on the district's official 2011-12 calendar.

Hillsborough Classroom Teachers Association President Jean Clements said she does not anticipate any changes to the early release schedule.

Early release days began in Hillsborough in 2008, when the district said it had no money for new teachers but wanted to add an extra class period to the school schedule.

To accommodate the change, teachers had to forfeit their daily 30-minute planning time — when they called parents, scheduled conferences and reviewed lessons — and replace it with of chunks of time spread throughout the year.

The number of early release days was set at eight but rose to 14 the following year as the district added another period to middle school teachers' schedules.

Last year, there were 12 early release days, roughly one every two weeks on Wednesdays.

Parents argued the sporadic schedule was confusing and that time out of the classroom hurt their children's education.

The district responded by organizing a committee to study early release days.

The group of school employees and PTA leaders proposed starting school an hour later every Monday, but Superintendent MaryEllen Elia recommended releasing students an hour earlier instead.

The board approved Elia's recommendation in a 5-1 vote, with Stacy White dissenting.

At the time, White said he preferred having no early release days.

"I still stand by my beliefs that they're a huge disruption for families and for education," White said Wednesday.

He hopes in the coming years, as the economy improves, the district will be able to provide teachers with whole days to plan.

Teachers and their representatives contend that set planning time is crucial not only for teachers, but also for their students.

"It's a time for teachers to collaborate, to plan and to be the most effective teacher they can be," said Robinson Principal Laura Zavatkay.

Early release days are a good compromise to accommodate teachers' needs, she said. They also allow students some extra time to finish up projects or squeeze in more studying.

"It's a time to catch up for everyone," Zavatkay said.

The 2011-12 calendar includes a week off for Thanksgiving, spring break set for March 12-16 and no school on Good Friday.

To see the full district calendar, go to http://www.sdhc.k12.fl.us/info/calendars/