Proposed schedule at Burrell's Bon Air Elementary goes back to the drawing board

Burrell School District administrators intend to revisit a scheduling plan at Bon Air Elementary as the school prepares to house an additional grade next year.

The Bon Air Task Force – composed of about 20 staff members and parents charged with reviewing the school’s building plans and schedules prior to it welcoming fourth grade classes in the fall — gave feedback on the proposal during a meeting this week.

“I felt everyone got to voice their opinions,” said Tracy Petzuk, librarian at Bon Air and Stewart Elementary, which is closing after this school year, necessitating the reconfiguration of grade levels.

“We were moving in a more positive direction this meeting. Obviously, there’s more to fine-tune. … This meeting, we got to take the time and find out the concerns.”

Superintendent Shannon Wagner and Bon Air principals Jim Croushore and Amy Lenart presented their proposal to the task force Jan. 14.

The proposal’s major difference from the current schedule deals with courses deemed “specials,” such as art and music.

Under the original proposal, homeroom teachers would spend time co-teaching a specials course with that course’s teacher instead of using the time as a planning period as they do now.

The proposal had all homeroom teachers’ planning time occurring when students would not be in the building.

Wagner said her intention was to find a way that courses “would not be taught in silos” and would give students a real-world application to what they are learning in different classes.

The task force agreed with the idea of collaboration but said the proposal would not be beneficial to teachers and students. Some teachers noted they already collaborate co-curricular subject material under the traditional schedule, when appropriate.

Wagner also said the finalized schedule will make sure teachers’ planning period time is consistent with contractual requirements.

The task force noted the proposal had overlapping support times for students. Members wanted to maintain the integrity of that time to best serve students.

“To really get to implement it where every grade level has the support, it would be difficult with overlapping (support) periods,” Wagner said.

The task force suggested transition times be included in the schedule, especially between lunches and recess.

The proposal also had unbalanced times for core classes, such as English and math, by a few minutes. Wagner said, with the help of the task force, they’ll rearrange the schedule to adjust that.

“That is something that has to be addressed,” Wagner said. “That is a huge priority.”

Start times for Burrell schools likely will not change next school year.

The district also is considering “adapted specials” for intensive and autistic support students at Bon Air.

With fifth grade students going to Huston next year, specialist teachers might be able to fit an adapted special in their schedule, Wagner said.

“This allows us to do specials that are more designed to meet (students’) needs,” she said.

Wagner said she will spend the upcoming days adjusting the proposal to try to solve the issues raised by task force members.

“The next meeting, we will continue to hear the schedule features that may need to be discussed further and have them consider what is most important,” she said.