Por Richard Chumney
BRIDGEPORT — Los estudiantes matriculados en el sistema de escuelas públicas de la ciudad pasarán más tiempo en el aula este próximo año académico, ya que los administradores apuntan a alargar los días escolares y unificar los horarios de clases.
El distrito planea extender la jornada escolar en 15 minutos para todas las escuelas primarias, intermedias y secundarias a partir de este otoño, según Suzanne Turner, directora de comunicaciones del sistema escolar.
“Los horarios de timbre anteriores han resultado en una pérdida significativa de tiempo de instrucción, ya que la jornada escolar se reduce entre cinco y cuarenta y dos minutos por día”, explicó Turner en un correo electrónico.
New Superintendent of Schools Carmela Levy-David speaks with a class of freshmen students during a visit to Bassick High School, in Bridgeport, Conn. Aug. 28, 2023. Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media
Las escuelas primarias y secundarias ahora comenzarán la instrucción a las 8:50 a. m. y finalizarán a las 3:25 p. m. Anteriormente, el horario del timbre variaba en las escuelas primarias y secundarias, pero la mayoría terminaba las clases a las 3:10 p.m.
Asimismo, los colegios secundarios de la ciudad seguirán iniciando a las 7:53 horas, pero la hora de finalización se retrasará desde las 14:30 horas. a 14:45 Turner dijo que los padres fueron informados de los cambios la semana pasada.
In a memo to district faculty and staff members, Superintendent Carmela Levy-David said the new start and end times were created in part to comply with the state’s mandate that school systems provide students with at least 900 hours of instructional time a year.
Levy-David, who was appointed last year, also linked the adjustments to a broader effort to improve student achievement across the resource-staved urban district, which has been designated an Alliance District by the state due to its status as one of the 30 lowest performing school systems.
“We know that maximizing instructional time has been proven to yield positive results in student outcomes,” Levy-David wrote.
The change has prompted some criticism. Joseph Sokolovic, a board member who has repeatedly clashed with Levy-David, said he was concerned the new schedule could inconvenience parents and students familiar with the old bell times.
Sokolovic said the new end times could pose challenges for families with childcare and students with after school commitments, inducing jobs. He suggested community members should have been given an opportunity to share their thoughts before the district adopted a new schedule.
“Once again, a decision was made without community input,” Sokolovic said. “We’ve got 19,000 families potentially impacted by this decision. I am mostly worried about our working-age children and our parents who may have their employment impacted by this change.”
Levy-David said in the memo that administrators determined the district needed to adjust the bell schedules after reviewing student performance data, current procedures and the contract with the teacher’s union.
The contract, which was ratified last fall after negotiations between the union and school board, sets teaching hours at 6 hours and 35 minutes for elementary and middle school teachers, and 6 hours and 52 minutes for high school teachers.
Jeff Morrissey, the president of the Bridgeport Education Association, the union that represents the district’s about 1,500 teachers, confirmed the organization was consulted before administrators moved forward with the changes.
“The BEA worked with central office administration to ensure the language of our contract was preserved as they work to maximize the instructional time for the students in Bridgeport,” Morrissey said.
