POLICY ISSUE: DOUBLE SESSIONS

 

DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE
Double sessions establish two separate schedules in a school with one-half of the student population assigned to an early or later session, either by grade level (i.e. grades 9 and 10 early,11 and 12 later) or lottery with hardship exceptions, or possibly, by sub-attendance zones.

---

PRESENT SITUATION in Leon County:
No school is on double session.

PRESENT SITUATION in other Florida School Districts/other states:

Broward

No schools are on double sessions at this time, though it is an option for consideration in the upcoming year due to expected enrollment growth of 50-100 schools over capacity thresholds.

Hillsborough

No schools are on double sessions at this time and there are no plans for next year. Double sessions were used as a short term strategy in the past and may be considered in the future if alternative financing for future construction needs are not found.

Lee

The district has not used double sessions in the last five years, none planned for next year. This district is considering all options for the future with an anticipated $15 million shortfall of operating budget.

Pinellas

No schools are on double sessions nor plans for near future. Double sessions were only used as short term option. For example, at an over crowded site prior to opening a new school nearby with the second session students zoned for new school.

Palm Beach

No double sessions at this time and none held in the last 10 years. One school is on 4 class per semester block schedule.

Pasco

The district has only used double sessions periodically in the last 15 years in conjunction with a delayed opening to a new school.

Dade

In 1969-70, the district instituted a Ten-hour Day in two junior high and three senior high schools. The school day was divided into two five-hour sessions [note: this preceded the current length of day requirement]. After implementation, principals in the pilot schools were surveyed about the affect of double sessions on school operations. Survey responses rated the ten-hour day good. In addition,a majority of students, parents and teachers said "...the ten-hour day, rather than giving students more time to get into trouble, provided them with more opportunity to engage in wholesome activities."

Administrative problems included requests to be transferred from the afternoon to the morning session. Parents were also concerned about younger students (not old enough to be employed) were not being supervised for half a day. In summary, capacity was increased 75 percent, while instructional staff costs increased two percent. (source: Beulah Cypress, "Split sessions are not the same as the plague").

INTENDED OUTCOME - Affect on District Capacity Needs
Double sessions increase utilization of existing school capacity by as much as 100%. For an example, a high school with a design capacity of 1800 students, with a current enrollment of 2200 students could implement a double session school day with 1100 students in each session. This would provide capacity for an additional 1400 students (700 students in each session) and not exceed the design capacity of the facility (per session).

COST CONSIDERATIONS
School Site
Capital
A consideration would have to be parking. High school students who participate in co-curricular activities attend academic classes in the morning and participate in other activities in the afternoon may overlap with the second session students.

Double sessions may shorten the life cycles of all components of the building due to the increased utilization of the building. Shorter life cycles of paint, carpet, AC equipment, and other building components will require earlier replacement. However, life-cycle replacement costs calculated on a per student basis should remain about the same as that for a single session school.

Operating
Personnel, utility, janitorial and maintenance costs would increase because of increased utilization and the longer school day. However, when calculated on a per student basis, theses costs should remain about the same as a that for a single session school.

District Level
Capital
No additional cost anticipated other than that associated with student enrollment growth.

Operating
No additional cost anticipated other than that associated with student enrollment growth (personnel, finance, MIS, etc.).

Transportation
Note: Determining actual cost of this option is not feasible without performing complete routing analysis. Generalized cost and operational impacts/considerations are therefore addressed.

Each high school bus would have two high school routes daily. At midday when the buses deliver the afternoon session students, release time for the morning session would have to be coordinated to allow the buses to be offloaded with the PM students, then loaded with the AM students for their return trip home. This may yield a savings because of the more efficient use of buses and the smaller number of buses needed at any one time.

Using an existing high school as an example, the current transportation cost for 1600 students totals approximately $533,000 per year (average cost per student = $333.24/year). If a double session schedule was implemented, total cost would increase to approximately $975,000. This included driver overtime and six additional buses for shuttles and center-to-center transportation. However, on a per student basis (double session total of 3200), the cost per student decreases to $304.69/year.

Start times for elementary and middle school would have to be coordinated closely in order to enhance use of the high school buses for middle and elementary routes. The potential for eliminating some buses from serving three school levels does exist if school start times cannot be adjusted to transportation support needs.

Some negative impact financially may become an issue when the proposed new transportation funding formula is passed. The new formula will financially reward districts who achieve greater numbers of students transported on each route and on the number of schools served by each bus. Under double sessions, the potential loss in numbers carried per route may be avoided by increasing high school route length and reducing the number of high school buses. This may then cause a loss in the number of buses serving three school levels, which may cause funding reduction under the new formula.

Food Service
Students are on campus a reduced period of time, thus, lunch program may require changes because of time and bus route considerations.

ACADEMIC CONSIDERATIONS
Programs
Example of a model six period double session school day:

Session A:	Session B:
7:00 - 7:50 a.m.	1:00 - 1:50 p.m.
7:55 - 8:45 a.m.	1:55 - 2:45 p.m.
8:50 - 9:40 a.m.	2:50 - 3:40 p.m.
9:45 - 10:35 a.m.	3:45 - 4:35 p.m.
10:40 - 11:30 a.m.	4:40 - 5:30 p.m.
11:35 - 12:25 p.m.	5:35 - 6:25 p.m.

Lunch would be available between 12:30 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. Extracurricular and athletics would usually be scheduled after Session A.

Example of a model double session bus schedule:

Session A:	Session B:
Arrive at H.S at 6:45 a.m.	Arrive at H.S. at 12:00 noon
Leave H.S. at 12:30 p.m.	Leave H.S. at 6:40 p.m.

Students participating in the Florida Academic Scholar and/or the Gold Seal Scholarship award program may be required to attend summer school or adult education to earn sufficient credit.

Academic Achievement
Very little reliable research evidence of multiple-shift schooling's impact on academic achievement exists. From what does exist, evidence has been gathered from around the world, making comparisons difficult. It was suggested by one researcher, Mark Bray, that little empirical data exists because double-sessions are viewed as temporary measures to deal with short-term crisis. (Bray, Mark. "The Quality of Education in Multiple-shift Schools: how far does a financial saving imply an educational cost?" Comparative Education. Volume 25 No. 1, 1990).

When viewed overall, the international research seems mixed. Most of the research focused on academic performance in language, mathematics, and science. Because administrators consider these subjects important, they often protect them at the expense of others. The real curriculum losses of multiple-shift systems may be in other areas.

Bray also notes that multiple-shift schools can cause a reduction in teaching time, resulting in the need to compress a lot of activity into a short time, making the school day tense. This not only affects the academic aspect but also extracurricular activities and general discipline.

PERSONNEL CONSIDERATIONS
Classroom Teachers
7.1 Normal workday defined as seven (7) hours plus fifteen (15) minutes plus professional duties as prescribed in 7.7. The workday shall include: planning preparation period, lunch period (paid). All duty time shall be considered time and not part of the teacher planning period.

7.6 Any assignment in addition to the normal work schedule during the school year...shall not be obligatory, but shall be with the consent of the teacher.

7.10 Requires a minimum of five (5) hours per week during the workday for planning which shall include 30 consecutive minutes per day.

8.2 Defines the teacher work day. Current practice of assigning high school teachers "duty" periods as one of their regular assignments could be a serious problem. High school teachers have five (5) regular classes, one (1) "duty" assignment and one planning period.

Administrative
Two sets of assistant principals are usually required with one principal usually assigned to the school as a whole

Administrative Support Staff
Attendance and other support staff require additional hours to serve both sessions or additional personnel. However, total number of support staff should be equal to or less than that required to staff a new facility.

Academic Support Staff
LESPA - 1994-97; Article III - Hours and Calendar
8.3 Defines the employee work year for teacher aides and instructional aides as 183 work days and 193 work days for interpreters. This language would have to be examined. The number of paid holidays will need to be considered as well. They currently receive three (3) paid holidays.

Other Support Staff
LOCAL 1010
General concerns will be more overtime pay for bus drivers, more custodial hours with a larger number of custodians eligible for all benefits, including medical coverage. However, total number of staff should be equal to or less than that required to staff a new facility

STUDENT CONSIDERATIONS
May limit opportunities for co-curricular and extra activities. It may create scheduling problems for band, chorus, and sports activities.

PARENTAL CONSIDERATIONS

-Students may not be assigned to desired session.
-Site-based decision making procedure may be affected.
-Two or more children in one family on different session may be a concern for family life.
-Students used for baby-sitting for younger siblings may be affected.
-Summer school, graduation and scholarship requirements may need to be addressed.
-Different sessions may affect supervision of students/children.
-Children's jobs, work day for parents and transportation may be affected.
-Scheduling scouting activities may be affected.
-High Schools have small volunteer groups - larger/smaller/same?
-Community perception of school may be affected.

COMMUNITY CONSIDERATIONS
Police and school officials may have trouble identifying who is truant. There may be an increase in trespassing or unauthorized off-track students are on campus.

Consideration of students not in session; where would they be and supervision. Extra support the community gives (Partners Program) - time investment may be affected. Use of school site for meetings affected.

POTENTIAL BARRIERS
Scheduling and participation in extracurricular activities are usually difficult unless Band/Sports/etc. students are in the early track. Scheduling and monitoring staff is also often difficult with overlap between sessions. Faculty meetings may only be on planning days unless teachers are compensated by LCTA contract.

POLICY IMPLICATIONS
No Policy directly addresses single or double sessions. Some flexibility in Policy 4.15 and 4.151, Pupil Progression Plan may be required if a six period day is necessary. Policy 1.04 calls for the School Board to annually adopt a school calendar, but does not specify any restrictions which will require changes for double sessions, extended day, or year-round programs.

REGULATORY/LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
Section 235.436 defines "full school utilization programs" includes, but not limited to year- round school and extended school day programs, evening and weekend programs, and of schools by parks and recreation departments to offer planned and supervised recreational activities. Current language in Statute relates to "full school utilization planning administration" in the context of a grant program. The 1995 Florida Legislature is examining ways to add incentives to encourage greater use of facilities to reduce the construction needs statewide.

Section 230.23(10)(a) requires that School Boards provide for at least 180 days of operation for all schools or the equivalent on an hourly basis. Section 230.23(4)(f) calls for fixing a uniform date for the opening of all schools, "in so far as possible", with conditions for notifying the Commissioner of Education if a 12 month school program is established. Section 230.23(4)(i) permits the establishment of public evening schools.

April 25, 1995

Go Back to: Restructuring Educational Facilities Article

---

Copyright © 1997 New Horizons for Learning, all rights reserved.
URL: http://www.newhorizons.org
E-mail: info@newhorizons.org

For permission to redistribute, please go to:
New Horizons for Learning Copyright and Permission Information