Havre School Board hears review of four-day week

Longtime Havre High School Teacher Erika Brekhus was named Lincoln-McKinley Primary School Principal for the coming school year at Tuesday evening's meeting of the Havre Public Schools Board of Trustees meeting, where district teachers talked about the implementation of the school's new four-day week model.

Brekhus was named Lincoln-McKinley principal by a unanimous vote with Board Chair Tim Scheele saying he and his colleagues are excited to work with her as she takes her new position.

Current Lincoln-McKinley Principal Holly Bitz will become Havre Public Schools Assistant Superintendent after that position's current occupant Brad Moore leave at the end of June.

Trustee Kevin Johnson abstained from voting as he and Brekhus are related, creating a conflict of interest, but all other present members voted in favor, with Trustee Britnee' Loch absent.

During the meeting the board heard from representatives from each school building about the teachers' experiences and opinions on the school's new hybrid four-day week model.

After a great deal of heated debate in the past few years, the Havre Public School board voted to implement a hybrid four-day week, with extended class periods and optional extra class time on certain Fridays throughout the year.

The change was supported by teachers who almost universally argued that the model would improve classroom performance, help teachers avoid burnout, make attendance at athletic events easier, and generally improve the school environment for teachers and students.

The new schedule was approved in a split vote after a great deal of disagreement between board members over the merits of the proposal and criticism from the teacher's union about how the matter was handled, particularly before last year's election, which saw a number of new members join the board.

However, after nearly a year of the new schedule, reviews from school staff so far have been overwhelmingly positive, with principals having reported widespread satisfaction with the change in a meeting a few months ago, along with some challenges.

Havre Public Schools Superintendent Brian Gum said teachers have since asked him to let teachers send their own representatives to the board to report on their own experiences directly, which he felt was a good idea.

Representatives at Tuesday's meeting largely mirrored what was said earlier this year, as the vast majority of teachers remain in favor of the change, though many pointed out drawbacks or areas that could use improvement.

Brekhus, representing Havre High School as a teacher, said things have gone well for the most part, with more focused and in-depth lessons, made possible by the extended class periods, and better overall attendance in her experience.

The optional Fridays, called Support Fridays, are pretty variable in terms of attendance, and students at the high school level tend to self-direct and know what they need more help with or what they want to dig more into.

She said teachers have made the observation that some of the Support Fridays were scheduled in a way that wasn't very strategic, but the district's calendar committee listened to those concerns and put in a lot of work to create a modified schedule for next year's Support Fridays, which she thinks will largely solve that issue.

Overall, she said, staff are much happier, having an extra day to rest and recuperate, coming back ready to get back to work on Monday, much more energized than before.

However, Brekhus said, there is one significant area of improvement they need to work on, which is at-risk attendance on Support Fridays.

She said students that use the extra Fridays are using them well, but those students most in need of extra help are not generally showing up, which is a problem that every teacher representative at the meeting mentioned.

"Something has got to change," Sunnyside Intermediate School Teacher Ashley Gauer said during her presentation.

Gauer said attendance of Support Fridays at her school has been very good, especially when they use that time to offer club activities outside normal required curriculum, but those that need the time most aren't using it.

She suggested making attendance mandatory for at-risk students as a possible solution, which would ensure the days are providing as much benefit as possible.

She also said there has been a problem specific to her building regarding buses.

She said all the teachers in her building are on bus duty for at least a half hour after their normal teaching hours which leaves them very little time for preparation work that teachers at other buildings have, a problem that has been exacerbated by the schedule.

Gum said he and Sunnyside Principal Pax Haslem have been talking about that very issue and they are going to be coordinating with the transportation department to try to get that problem addressed next year.

Despite these difficulties, Gauer said, teachers remain in strong support of the new model, with 92 percent saying they've experienced a boost in job satisfaction, and 78 percent saying they fully support the change, with the remaining 22 percent split evenly between being unsure and opposing it.

Overall, she said, they are seeing far less burnout, if any at all, among teachers who seem noticeably happier and less stressed despite the fact that they are working longer than they did before.

She said the Fridays they don't have to work gives them plenty of time to recover from the week and spend time with their families.

Lynette Stortz a teacher at Highland Park Early Primary School, also said her fellow teachers don't have much time for prepwork, as their young students are in need of constant supervision and interaction during Support Fridays, unlike the high school.

Stortz said Support Fridays were a bit difficult to manage at first, and the uncertainty that surrounds how many students will show up can still be tricky to plan for, but it is becoming easier with time, and, for those who attend, they've been everything that was promised.

Support for the change remains high, she said, as most curriculums were easy to adapt to the new schedule, which seems to have improved student attendance and has certainly had a positive effect on the performance of teachers.

These sentiments were mirrored by Lincoln-McKinley Teacher Jane Leinwand, who said her fellow teachers are still strongly in support of the new schedule which they feel has allowed them to improve the quality of their teaching and do more with the time they have.

She said it may be worth it to look at altering the schedule a bit to allow more time for district initiative and curriculum review, but much like Gauer, she said that teachers are able to do more than they were before.

Havre Middle School Teacher Kristi Hickman said things at her school have gone very well too, even with some initial difficulties adjusting to the new pace of the school week.

She said they've been able to use Support Fridays to offer cultural activities as well as help with their traditional curriculum.

Gum said overall attendance of Support Fridays district wide is usually between just under half and a quarter of their normal attendance.

He said many expected that attendance would dip after the holidays, but that doesn't appear to have happened, which is great news.

However, he said, it's clear they need to do something to improve the attendance of at-risk students, which is consistently low.

As for the rest of the meeting, the Trustees approved a number of measures, including the adoption of a new memorandum of agreement with the Havre Public Schools Education Foundation.

Havre Public Schools Education Foundation Chair Joseph Todd also gave a brief presentation on that organizations' last few years of work, including finding money for travel and registration expenses for Future Farmers of America students, more food and clothes for the district, fire alarms at Highland Park, improvement to the playground at Lincoln-McKinley.

He said they've also made improvements to their scholarship programs and helped facilitate programs with Havre High and renowned local musician Phil Aaberg.

In the future, he said, they are hoping to gather more unrestricted funds that they can use to help the district pay for projects like repairs to the Havre High School stage, which are badly needed, as well as some money that individual teachers can access.

Foundation Co-Vice-Chair Casey Donoven also spoke about the Foundation's upcoming 5 Percent Initiative.

Donoven said Montana is about to see the largest generational transfer of wealth in a very long time, and they want to get ahead of it, contacting estate and trust planners in the area as well as alumni to consider them as potential benefactors in the hope of supporting the district and helping it stay sustainable in the coming decades.

The board also approved their final round of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, which Gum said will go to upgrading Highland Park's cafeteria tables, and the purchase of new Chromebooks for student use, and new desktop computers for staff.

He said he's hoping it will also cover the Havre High stage's repair project, which he hopes will be done before the next school year.

The also approved a grant for the district that Gum said will pay for improvements to the district's boilers, new Environmental Protection Agency approved refrigerators, and better digital controls for the district, as well as roofing improvements for Highland Park.

Scheele said this grant does not require a match, which is a great feature for the district.

Gum also gave a brief update on enrollment, which he said is up six from last month, and up 43 from this time last year, all of which is great, and in keeping with the normal yearly enrollment trends.

During the meeting Gum and the board also presented this month's Pony Pride Award to Havre High School Paraprofessional Mardell Toth.

Gum presented the award on behalf of last month's winner Shawna Hanson, saying Toth has dedicated more than 40 years to the district.

"She puts the students she works with at Havre High above all else." Gum said, "She has been tested on many occasions and is still here helping those who need just a bit more."

At the end of the meeting board members also discussed the results of a self evaluation of the board and its relationship with each other, the superintendent, the public and local media.

Board members said they largely feel they have been able to get along with each other and debate respectfully even in times of passionate disagreement, and they feel that they have been respectful in their dealings with the public as well.

Board members also said they think they could all use periodic refreshes on board procedure and make sure members of the public understand how the board meetings work.

Scheele said he feels that oftentimes meetings go longer than is ideal, but when that happens it's typically for good reason, as there is a lot of material to get through.

They also said they think school finances are a subject all of them could stand to be more informed about, but the subject is so complicated that it's difficult to get the hang of sometimes, especially in those first few years.

Board members also said they feel relations with local media has been good, with coverage being consistently accurate.