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Four Day School Week DeKalb ISD

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Dr. Chris Galloway has 14 years of experience and education that have led him and serving in his current role as the DeKalb ISD superintendent before serving as superintendent dr. Galloway was a c social studies and criminal justice teacher wrestling team coach lead as a vice principal principal and secondary director he also proudly served in our Armed Forces he is married and has three children. Thomas and his newest addition Aubrielle who arrived just 5 months ago in his free time Chris is an active member of the Masonic lodge and is a former worshipful master of his San Antonio Lodge and the Dekalb ISD have been featured on Fox News and the NBC Nightly News after the district moved to a four-day school week I've had the pleasure of working alongside doctor Galway and I have to say just on a personal and a I have never witnessed anyone with a stronger addiction to Mountain Dew so Chris thank you and your team for being here today I'll turn it over to you to introduce everyone and then we'll start with our questions good morning it's good to see so many faces I recognized I definitely you know what to say shut up to your mother and dr. Wade from Floresville and I see you Dr. Chambers. Dr. Chambers and I worked together at jeca many moons ago so I'm happy to see everybody on the call today I have Emily  with my chief instructional officer and she was with me when we went to midwinter last year and saw some presentations about the four-day week at about a 6 hour drive back to the DeKalb discussing a possible options and then I have on the call as well as Clayton little DeKalb High School principal and Cody Bergen who is the Middle School principal and Melinda Hodgson Elementary principal who was also a blue and recipient of this year for turning around at the elementary school. All right so in the agenda there is a link to do some four-day week resources it's a folder that Debbie Akers set up and dr. Galloway was so gracious to share some of the resources that he has with us so I'm sure as you go through we're at the go through some of these questions you'll be able to also access some of the resources that are being referenced so just to start us off what lead you and Tobias need to consider moving to a four-day school week it was really 2 to recruit and retain teachers but also be able to allow them the time to play a character their lesson but also with the requirements of the reading academies and requirements of House Bill 4545 we were looking for an opportunity in a way to to really improve the area up here in Dekalb it's a lot different than down there Antonia Berry as far as today goes for teachers up here the starting pay for most teachers on average about $36,000 and it was really hard to find teachers in fact last year we had a teacher that we had to hire the uncertified and we're just starting programs so we were looking for a way to find buddy teachers and in really increase our applicant pool so while we were at midwinter we went to some presentations regarding Recruitment and Retention of teachers and I believe Athens one of those presentations but each presentation went to regarding that they were 40-week districts that had implemented a four-day week and were able to recruit teachers from other districts around the larger districts and so we did find it after we implemented we told all our position before June and May and we only had one teacher that we hired that was not certified in that was actually I'm going to get your so that was kind of an odd teacher anyway where you have to find somebody with experience to bring in there and find one of the better and we had three veteran teachers join us they had over 20 years of experience also had a couple teachers leave larger districts are we getting more paint on them to come to the door District so we really saw the benefit right off the bat when you came to the Preakness Joseline had a teacher who is about to have a baby and she was not planning on returning and she decided to come back because we have limited the four-day week because she felt like that extra day would give her family and there are few teachers. really close to retirement not only in our district but other districts surrounding us they decided to stay on board we did have four other districts that did switched with what a week that kind of Border our district as well and said talk to us a little bit about how four-day week as structured our teachers and staff working all five days and your you know school start and end times are longer what is that look like today our time schedule for Bell schedules right around 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Summit Campus is obviously get about out about 5 minutes earlier because of buses but the way we have its pressure Daniel seeing the resources staff calendar which is separate and then in calendar still are students off every Friday except for two Fridays which we added in the fall and I believe are not one of the biggest push-backs that we saw when we were looking for feedback we got when we're looking at going in for the week with the pep rallies and the football experience and so we had it two Fridays were all staff and students come in in the fall that's going to be that's homecoming and senior night for football and so that way the kids can wear their jerseys and where their mom pep rallies on Friday before a game so those are two days they come in and then in the spring we have intervention days been built in for students which I read on the calendar and those are going to be days for students to meet at Target for house that 45 45 for our staff they come in one Friday a month turnley and during that Friday they get the plan and we also use that Friday to host our door by the board meetings which is really a benefit for those special population because what we find is when you have to pull teacher from a classroom to cover nard you actually leave instructions hunts and typically you can only have one teacher in an arch they have them on Fridays when everybody is off we can help awkward teachers in that our meeting and we really get a well-rounded view of what that's doing until we really feel like that's been a benefit for us that's right so that's kind of how our structure is for the wedding and talk to us about how everything has been received from different perspectives the staff at the pier and students Community what are some Trends and patterns that you've noticed this far too after being off for 4 days they do not want to come back Inn but definitely I've heard positive and teachers talking about how they're better prepared now that they get all their grades and on-time their lesson plans are good most teachers are ahead of where they were last year list the teaching because they're a lot more Focus they're really teaching those essential standards and you know taking out the floor but you know really wasting engagement go up across the board Bella Belle we haven't had any complaints from any community members of parents I like to have one of the impossible if you want to jump in and talk about how it's up your stand dr. Galloway stay in the planning team was really the most important feast and then we started talking about the four-day week is it getting harder and harder cuz you had to go back and fell back and hit some Foundation of teachers our teachers the plan I will say this week we jumped into a blended where a lot of  teachers or anyway and so leave it in our schedule allowed within our schedules are all of our for allowed us to meet and look at data to make the you just got the such a strategy meeting across the meeting and leave like that until I really think that extra playing that music really help in planning Melinda did you want to jump in and talk about the elementary perspectives I can my teachers were worried about it in the at the beginning but like fighting said it has allowed for especially that Friday they were altogether I know I just met with third fourth teachers earlier about smart dates and doing all those kind of things. normally don't have time in our schedule to get together and so that day those Fridays are important for those kind of things and and they seem to we weren't here last Friday as we were in Washington but they weren't from the town got here until the time and Clayton Cody let him go for weather very diligently and so I thought that they might be a blow off day because I didn't I was worried about them use in their time appropriately but it is a very well-organized day for those teachers that have a list of things to do if things I want to get done for the next week the next month our lesson plans and I found out that I like to look their lesson plans a couple it's an advance but it's hard for me to do that it's plan those out that far but this has allowed for them to do a multiple weeks of lesson plans at a time as far as two weeks of that has been beneficial I didn't think that could ever happen but it actually has the you're so and that's been about us so Eddie did you want to jump into the middle school perspectives yeah I think when the big thing for us is it we did it was hard to find time for great old man's Department main CEO and that they really like I was for that when it's not on there after school. Stating we Tuesday how to do it so that was good party shoes increase in just a quality teaching in the classrooms because I told them early on when we first start telling me this if we do this we really have to buckle down and we got this. About more than we ever have before and because we don't want to lose any instruction with those kids and we don't want to fall backwards and in testing with a real sweet when we have so I've seen very good quality teaching for the most part I'm like a more and more so than in years past does the last question I have before we open it up to those in the field what struggles have you encountered be honest haven't really been too many struggling really on the peins bag there's been a couple struggles like we came in at the day cuz we are listed is a four-day week there was an issue with teams we can take attendance but you know child care that's what everything you thinking miss you but when you start doing the research you start learning that the child care is not an issue because one of these parents do during Summers and breaks their Christmas break spring break they have they have an outlet they have to find an outlet so they can continue to work until we actually partnered with local church to offer morning Child Care on Fridays for those students and we only had one student sign up at 800 students we've seen talked about the positive we seen an increase in attendance and in one he looked at was fighting the worst didn't stay for three years so we took out Fridays and so our tenants right now is 95.2% last year our tenants with 93% but that wasn't loaded yet but then fired a covid aren't we ever done percent so we we seen a huge increase in attendance are disappointed way down we've only had 30 discipline incidents across the district elementary middle school and high school and that's what is s o s s r d a p Juno's rdap that came to it that we had to send directly the AP so they were transferred last year we had 167 incidents of them so went down way down we go instructions going up we think that our teachers have a more well-balanced a work-life balance now so overall I haven't seen any negative I think mr. little and mr. bergenwood are you the probably scheduling with the most difficult thing and if you guys want to jump in on that maybe you guys did your schedule yeah so you know we went from 8. 8 till 7. Day we are and so my concern open point with with are now our kids are going to have to all day event end of the day event Nick instruction time will it be 30 for me but The Way We Were diligent in planning like I said the athletic King has to leave early and they're not missing for breaking electric it's all about just being intentional with your cleaning and painting but I think we got it figured out where specially the first year and we can do things that we know we have to be worried about it do you want to talk about what you guys did miss one and the difficulties we've had how much the same as what high school we went from 8. Day two I should not do a 6. A discussion with some of my department heads and the teachers that we just couldn't really justify send them about the same kind of schedule are you saying I'm not in class and cuz it just wouldn't add up so going from the 45-minute class. I. A 267 hour and 5 minutes they that gives us more minutes I wish our kids the same and said he had to be intentional on your on your scheduling only worried about 7-8 going to do anything extracurricular soak those class for the most part except maybe one they're missing Alexis for those when I need to leave early no one thing to know about the secondary is that what you're talking about so at the high school they went to 50 minute. And if the middle schools in which an hour and 5 minutes in reality those four classes in a four-day week are getting nearly 2,000 more hours are 2000 more minutes sorry per year than they were on a five-day week schedule today more time without coming on Fridays because wasting that time Melinda what kind of struggles did you see the elementary and what did you guys do to your schedule there aren't any struggles with this schedule mine is so much easier than Cody and Clyde our kids were already getting an 85-minute block anyway so our scheduling was not an issue at all we just added time to the day we were able to add a little bit of a rest time back into kindergarten so I did not have a scheduling issue really all we had to accept the time for dyslexia so that threw a little bit of pink in it but other than that it was really not a scheduling problem at the elementary immensely is there anything that you want to share tomorrow positives are any struggle just mainly positives I really think that you know as the principal who said if you're just intentional about the way that you do things and really you know stressed and I know they've done a great job of that too teachers that you know we're going to have to buckle down and make good use of our time and make good plans and be as effective as it's not more so what's the time that we have and I bet it's worth you coming there you know maybe Elementary homework for example you know like the teacher has it Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday you know it's just kind of wears that balance of are we still giving things over the weekend or are we not is that an expectation for everybody or is it just an option for parents but just you know thinking through those things and just as some of the details but I really think there's been my opinion obviously we haven't gotten to her you know end-of-year test and that's going to look different so it's going to be hard to know exactly but I think there's been lots of positives from having collaboration time for teachers across campuses we've offered little mini bday session that we wouldn't have been able to do probably necessarily otherwise because we feel like before when maybe we just had one every you know every three months we had to use some of that for PD because you know we have things that are required by the state and we have teachers who we need to give time for reading out of me because that's off of there that's out of the scope of their normal you know job duties and I really think it has helped have monthly day in which sometimes we have things planned sometimes it's just all for their own you know classroom planning and and I think there's been several positive overall what you're hearing and what we've seen is that the the 40 we really raise the quality of teaching more so than you know people think you need to have that extra day for quantity but really did the minutes haven't changed the meeting that were actually seen in the state requirement by three days still but overall they're getting more time in those four classes and they were before and what you look at from the day that we found and I included it in the folder the 4-week district 21 of them the word what are we District prior to us and most of them were before covid or or just after they all went up in their accountability they went from d2a or they remain to be until really there are no districts that they really dropped his far it's deeply when it comes to the board a week so that that's promising and I think the overall academically being good you're going to hear if you're researching it what how does it affect extracurriculars I don't have them on here ladies But ultimately you know that the coaches love the fact that they come in on Friday and then I have to worry about somebody children with class kids are not missing class on Fridays because they're out the football coaches bring into the kids at 10 a.m. and have breakfast they watch video that did you walk me to send amount they come back for a pregame meal like they normally would and kids are showing up there real concern was that may be kids but that hasn't been an issue think about it during Summers and during spring break since they're still practice is going to have to get there and they find a way so really we haven't seen you dropped in that as well so ultimately it don't just feel like you know there's less drama kids kids are well rested for me better than extracurricular so it's been good over all so I'll turn it back to you if you want to go ahead and take the opportunity to open it up to all of us here on the conference call for questions that you may have for dr. Galloway and his staff Toby shine so I'll just ask I'm telling you I was deleting daily I see the cricket director as I look across the district you know especially Elementary has things like Veterans Day Celebrations and Red Ribbon Week activities and things that happen around the holidays do you sign that you're having to do a lot better planning so that you're not lose construction time on things like that I do and I'll let you know that I'm a principal jump in on this too they do a lot of activity but we just did our Veterans Day program right now before this called so we can do some things we have to move Thursday and pepper hours need to Thursday's but yeah I do think that that that's helping our Red Ribbon Week we did when they were here all five days so you know there was an incentive for kids to come is the one that you want to jump in there on Alex and you guys Inspire celebrations and things like that we try to cram everything we possibly could get into that week so that that way was kind of bad was going to be but it was all the things celebration anyway so we had a chili steppers during book fair we had book fair that way we had Red River we were Halloween costumes on that Friday was snapshot play we had all the things so we try to plan intentionally so that that week was full of all the things and the week prior and the week after would not be any disruption at all so if it did not fall in that way anyway we put in that week so that there would be nothing extra any other time so we were kind of intentional and they're planning on that they did slip up on us a little bit so we just tried to throw it in all of a sudden so that was the plan but it just kind I will try to do better next week we have a notebook of things what to do difference already and it's several pages of things to do different but and those are little Elementary works not a big thing and that particular week was the way we do you want to talk about how you handled the when Austin came in on this Friday and what you guys did I'm more the rah-rah guy then dinner middle school principals Attleboro that in there but we adjusted our schedule both Friday we're both from 8 to 12 we went over. And then after lunch is when we did our spirit night but we we may have to do some stuff and play some games with us we had a pep rally schedule for that one of those Friday so we had a parade that we like the rain that we do every year so we try to schedule those things just so kids can remember those days we dated Jeff to schedule a little bit of a big bat something most people don't think about is that when you go to a four-day week and you have those Friday to bring staff ends with kids or without actually working more with you I mean so if you think about it you know your worth you're coming in a full 40 hours that that for a week and then you bring him in on Friday to do another 8 hours so really you're getting more Staffing in the teachers know that ultimately you know we didn't change their pay as far as you know but there but when you change your 4 day week their daily rate goes way up so ultimately they're getting raped until they know that and either they're excited about that they just they would prefer the time and the ability to do things that they got to get done cuz they're doing them on Saturdays anymore so now they're just doing them on Fridays and now they have the family fun Saturday I had a question about how did it affect your arm employees so with our paraprofessionals we have them come in just the same as everybody else and they come in on those Fridays and it actually kind of washes out if we bring him in 2 days you bringing it to field days in the summer before hand and kind of a wash central office staff are our least that actually work every Friday half a day so that includes the full days that something so they get their full 40 hours as well we really are maintenance and custodial they work all five days now that's a benefit because now you don't have anybody in the classroom on Fridays it's our maintenance staff and our custodial staff and get into Des Plaines get in and take things in the classroom that they normally have to wait till break the deal we've gotten a parking lot painted which normally wouldn't get done because there's no cars here on Friday so they're able to get those the parking lot line striping those type of things so it's been a benefit for them the only employee that it's really impacted bus drivers so our bus drivers they didn't lose them pay but what we did is we offered an attendance bonus so they lost about $1,200 a year so every semester if they miss less than three days worth of route where do you get my $500 bonus so that was until 5 because we do have antennas issues with some of our bus driver staff we actually stopped our cafeteria from Texarkana ISD but we offer every day including on Friday so Aces that are we on for lunch during that time so the bus drivers they want to pick up extra route they can pick up a nice ride on Fridays or they can drive for extracurriculars but also we we have about 40 to 60 kids come in for 8 on Fridays with now those kids we use a cigar after 4545 to these are struggling kids so it's actually a benefit for us there is another District nearest New Boston ISD the same size as us they actually bringing the kids one Friday a month half a day and they have their their staff planning half the rest of the day so that's how they do it every month and they have roughly about 45 to 60 kids that come in as well for intervention and I'll show up and it's great dr. Galloway what how much do do y'all pay supplemental pay for your teachers that come in on Friday for interventions and is that like an hourly rate or Yelp a daily Raider out how are y'all doing now do not date supplemental pay the teachers that are in a sleigh get they get $25 extra now for Ace but those intervention days we're bringing all staff in the spring and bring it in. We're not giving them extra pay it's just part of their there actually lose 10 days off there the Contra in the stuff I gave you guys will have to change your District navigation to to get away from the any other questions from the field I have a question for Chris I was looking at the thank you for sharing all that information Chris and that older you I saw that you posted a a video I think it's a video you did for parents and I guess educate them a little bit about the option so how early did you start the commute I plan on around this actually I posted a note section in in the folder and you look in the notes section I actually have the timeline so I kind of go through that real quick in January on January 31st we were at Midwinter during the from midwinter when we got back until our first board meeting in February which is about until the 28th we we we did a lot of research my DLC did research and they search didn't from the perspective of their job so Middle School principal Elementary principal my chief of police near look at Prime in those type of things and 40 district for the presentation together in February 28th I brought it to the board we are and we asked the board at that time would you like us to to keep moving forward and input a survey about the staff and the community at that time if we would have to say that right now I'm mostly bored with until they start researching about it was and I was but then once you start researching and you start to see more benefits of it March 1st we send out the first observation and then March 3rd through the 16th we had a parent survey with that I put out a video kind of about a 15-minute video explaining what why were looking at it and what some of the benefits are Texarkana Gazette rent an RV boy you know what you put that story out there but it's going to start raining today I met with local pastors with my high school principal on March 8th now that was cheap because we have 16 so that's why we're getting a lot of questions about 40 week and they were hearing more about it than anybody else so we were able to answer their question so they could talk about it with the community and beneficial to us Boyd County Tribune ran another article then we had a community we had one on on Sunday March 13th and we had one on that Tuesday and that's one of the videos I have in people were able to come I did will presentation now my presentation also like a lot of it was the frequently asked questions in the survey we answered those questions and I'll tell you now all our staff was on board at first there is only 65%. but some of the questions where am I going to leave her 10 days by local days yes they still got them those type of things I was going to impact and as far as the one to answer this question we had about 95% so we only had two staff members were against it when they first we had a public hearing on March 21st and in each have approved the 40 on April 18th set appointment so we actually put out a 5-day calendar and 40 calendar and had the staff vote on it and they all voted on the floor they can Uber with the exception of 2 inch wheels but yeah those videos whiskey and I think that kind of stopped a lot of issues with people saying you know we were sharing information with transparent we actually you know recorded our meetings and put him on Facebook and people can watch and they're on YouTube and you can see the number of heads when they were several hundred head we got now for our surveys we put them out on Google and opened up to anybody and you can see some kids were answering them you can tell who they were but we didn't want anybody stay didn't have access to it to do it now. Some of the districts around us they sent email them directly to parents there was districts that she handed them students and send him home and backpacks the interesting thing is is our percentage and their percentage of results when they came back we're almost identical within a few percentage so there was no no difference on child that The Medallion gives no survey okay I looked and then chat and saw there was a question about agenda checklist ideas for Fridays and the high school master schedule and so Mister little thank you so much for putting those resources in there we will also add them to the folder of resources that was shared the only other request dr. Galloway was to get a copy of the surveys maybe that you sent out if you're willing to do that not to put you on the spot but in the notes on the notes page I actually links to the bottom of the page where you can accept that it's titled DeKalb ISD four-day week PDF and then I at the bottom so wonderful will thank you so much this is definitely been very very helpful and if it's okay with you what we'll do is share your information in case there's additional questions that people have as they come through but we really want to thank you so much for making the time from your day to share with us and share kind of what you've learned to the process as well as your team so thank you so much for that if there are no more questions then we'll continue to move

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