Maili school opts for
5-day, year-round

Yesterday's decision stuns the
community segment of the
management council

By Debra Barayuga
Star-Bulletin

Year-round schooling is in. Four-day weeks are out.

After six years on a four-day class schedule, Maili Elementary will revert to a traditional five-day school week after its school/community-based management council yesterday failed to reach a consensus.

The council unanimously voted in favor of adopting a modified year-round schedule for school year 1998-99, which begins July 29.

The parent segment of the Maili school/community-based council yesterday voted against a proposal that would have retained the current four-day schedule plus a mandatory fifth day for enrichment courses and additional instruction time.

It also would have provided remedial reading and math help. Teachers had agreed to give up six of their Fridays reserved for staff development to work in teams of 10 to provide the extra instruction.

Maili adopted a four-day schedule in 1991 as a way to reduce high teacher turnover and improve student achievement.

Parents last year clamored for a return to the traditional schedule, saying test scores were not showing improvement. Teacher turnover, however, had dropped from a high of 36.5 percent in 1987-88 to 13 percent in 1993-94.

Yesterday's decision stunned the community segment of the council, which had voted for the proposal with some reservations. The group last year had voted down a similar proposal but since then has been working with teachers to resolve their concerns.

"The teachers bent over backwards to support us," said Bill Titsworth, a community member and grandfather.

"I am disappointed."

Teachers had heeded their requests to make the Friday mandatory for all students, provided certified teachers to teach basic skills courses and was willing to compromise where possible, he said.

Parent representative Vicky Naehu said voting against the proposal was difficult. "We felt it's a good program, and with a little more work can be an excellent program for our kids."

But parents had raised concerns about the impact of rotating teachers every six weeks would have on the children and whether volunteers teaching the enrichment classes would be able to maintain order in the classrooms.

Maili Principal Linda Victor noted that the teachers themselves, not school administrators, had worked hard on the proposal.

"We may lose teachers," she said after the meeting.

Teachers had expected some opposition to the proposal, as they learned from past meetings, but did not anticipate the outcome, said teachers Stacey Omori and Diana Shima.