By Matthew E. Milliken
mmilliken@heraldsun.com; 419-6684
DURHAM -- Durham educators are seeking funding that would allow Neal Middle School to extend its day.
Citizen Schools, a Boston-based nonprofit, approached Durham public education officials about a year ago with the concept of expanding the school day. Now an April 1 deadline is looming for the school district either to pledge about $160,000 to the program next year or to pass on the opportunity.
If the proposal becomes reality, all 200 of Neal's sixth-grade students, plus a much smaller group of seventh- and eighth-graders, would stay three hours beyond the regular 2:20 p.m. dismissal to engage in Citizen Schools' extra-hours programs. However, all students would be dismissed at 2:20 p.m. on Fridays, freeing that afternoon for training for faculty and staff.
The program would expand to the entire student body within three years.
The number of hours students in the expanded-learning-time program would be in school would rise by 400 hours a year, from 1,170 to 1,570 -- an expansion of slightly more than one-third.
"The more quality enriched time students can be in learning environments, the better their achievement is," said Debbie Pitman, Durham's assistant superintendent for student support services. "And what we particularly like about Citizen Schools and this particular extended-learning-day program is the type of work they do around career exploration, quality apprenticeships, really looking at ways that students can research projects and give back to their communities around topics of interest that also -- that might lead into career possibilities for young people."
The district is quite pleased with the after-school program that Citizen Schools operates for 100 students at Lowe's Grove Middle School. The organization, which works in 18 cities in seven states, also runs programs at two schools in Charlotte as well as Henderson Middle School in Vance County.
The plan for Neal's extended program, which is similar to that at Lowe's Grove, involves one hour of homework help, tutoring and the teaching of organization and study skills. That would be followed with two hours on Mondays and Fridays exploring colleges and careers and two hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays pursuing apprenticeships. Area businesses have provided apprenticeship opportunities to local students.
Students work on projects that they present to others at the end of the 10-week apprenticeships. "When most adults see what our students have done, nine times out of 10 the first thing they say is wow," Erik Turner, Citizen Schools' operations manager for North Carolina, told the school board at a committee meeting earlier this month.
Citizen Schools runs a math-oriented extended-day program at Edwards Middle School in Charlestown, Mass. The organization claims that Edwards has been transformed from a failing school into one where students outperform those at more affluent schools on math tests. In three years, eighth-grade math proficiency rose from about 12 percent to 55 percent.
School hours were extended this year at Y.E. Smith Elementary School, which is not affiliated with Citizen Schools. Reactions to the move appear to be mainly positive thus far.
Jill Ullman, Citizen School's North Carolina development director, said that Durham could be poised to catch a wave when it comes to extended school hours. The Obama administration will spend up to $100 billion on school reform projects that include extended-day programs, and several major private foundations favor expanded school days.
There's an important catch, however, and it involves time and money. While a federal grant could kick in $180,000 for Neal's expanded day, and Citizen Schools would contribute $60,000, the Durham school system needs $120,000 for instruction and $40,000 for transportation to cover its share of the extended-day costs.
That's a tough task given the current climate of cost-cutting -- all the more so because Citizen Schools' federal grant application requires Durham to commit or pass by April 1. That date is many weeks before the 2010-11 budget will be set.
Although school board members have told staff that they support the extended-day proposal, it's not clear if it will come to fruition.
"We're still looking at possibilities," Pitman said Wednesday. "We're still hoping that the details can be worked out."
Neal's principal, Myron Wilson, did not respond to requests for comment for this article. He told the school board earlier this month that he supports the extended-day program.
