All-day school schedules

Is this all-day school thing just for elementary schools, or are they looking at high schools too? If they actually try to push this on high schoolers down the road, it’s gonna be a total disaster. Anyone actually in the loop here?

Just talking about the elementary schools for now—though honestly, I hope they scrap the whole thing. What I saw in the draft during yesterday's public hearing was just... it was devastating. It looks like a total disaster waiting to happen for both the kids and the teachers.

What they’ve proposed is an absolute disaster; kids will stage a revolt if they're stuck in school from 8 AM to 5 PM. 😵

Sure, the little ones in first and second grade might manage some after-school care filled with games, but anything beyond that is pointless... and they want to extend this through eighth grade.
What on earth are seventh and eighth graders supposed to do sitting in a classroom all afternoon? Everyone will lose their minds...

My kids can barely wait to get home and decompress after sitting in those rigid school chairs all day. Just thinking about it is exhausting...
Then there's the food situation. Even if the cafeteria serves decent meals, these older kids are hungry constantly. Who is going to provide high-quality nutrition for everyone?

And don't even get me started on the teachers. These geniuses plan to have one teacher covering the entire day for the lower grades; that person is going to be a nervous wreck by noon.

I fail to see the logic here. Is the goal just to reduce enrollment at the Department of Education colleges? They'll just collect the tuition and then leave fifty schools in shambles...
Is there any actual reasoning behind these proposals?

The most pathetic part is that our local school actually wants to sign up for this mess. I have to use that word because it truly is a mess.
I can only hope this "experiment" doesn't actually happen... 🤦

but we aren't talking about some chill after-school program with games and downtime here—this is actual instruction. I mean, mandatory classes, remedial sessions, enrichment programs... just class, class, and more class.

A retired veterinarian turned minister and his little circle of intellectuals have cooked up what might be the most disastrous and embarrassing scheme yet. Honestly, after my time in the school of hard knocks, I didn't think things could get any stupider than this.

He actually had the audacity to pitch this monstrosity as some brilliant leap forward in education quality—claiming it would somehow eliminate the need for private tutoring and improve family life??!! I guess it makes you wonder what kind of nonsense they’re cooking up over at the Department of Education. What are they even thinking??

Sarah Hall53 said:but we aren't talking about some chill after-school program with games and downtime here—this is actual instruction. I mean, mandatory classes, remedial sessions, enrichment programs... just class, class, and more class.

I see the problem. That’s why I’m saying maybe it works for first and second grade, but after that 👎

No matter how much I try to wrap my head around this, I just can't make sense of the logic here.
They want homework sessions and extra help to happen before 3 PM.
Who on earth is supposed to be helping these kids?
With 800 students in the district, how are three teachers expected to provide math support to everyone in just two hours?
When and how is that even possible?
And when are the kids actually supposed to study? Or where?
Right now, they’re already in class until 1 or 2 PM; is the plan really to extend the school day even further so they can squeeze in both homework and studying during school hours?
It just doesn't make any sense.

This whole setup is just awful. We’ve got ten-minute breaks right after the first period—which is ridiculous—plus that mandatory "the world and I" class if a kid isn't doing religious studies. Kids are going to be coming home just to start studying all over again until nightfall... total disaster. Meanwhile, the news is obsessed with how much time they're spending on computer science—maybe an hour a week?—which, honestly, is probably the only decent thing about this mess.

So I know this software engineer guy—total high earner, even though he’s basically living the remote life. He doesn't just grind out a standard eight-hour shift; he’s more of a "whenever it needs doing" type, working late nights or popping in on weekends when things get hectic.

His wife was on a temporary contract, but she's actually between jobs right now.
They’ve got two little kids—one of them is just... wow, a total prodigy, super bright—and the other one is just your typical, run-of-the-mill kid. Nothing crazy, they don't need any special extra help or anything.

And now? Now both parents are stuck at home while it's freezing outside—it's December, middle of the night around 5 AM vibes—and the kids are just stuck sitting in school until 5 PM.

Seriously, who even came up with this nonsense? 🙏

Is it just me?
Since I'm working from home, I feel like I always have one kid who just seems to struggle through school until they're practically nineteen.

Michelle Nelson4 said:Is it just me?
Since I'm working from home, I feel like I always have one kid who just seems to struggle through school until they're practically nineteen.

But it didn't just start out this way.

From what I’ve gathered, classes wrap up by the 15th, and after that, everything shifts over to extracurricular activities.
It probably won't be happening every single day, though.

They say they’ve practically wiped out rabies in the fox population. Personally? I think they missed one prime specimen.

The guy is out of his mind. Honestly, anyone involved in this clearly lacks even a shred of common sense.

One day it might be English, the next math, then German... there are kids who actually enjoy taking every single class because they love it.
I still have nine years until retirement. I really hope I don't have to work like this for more than four; I can't imagine being stuck in a school from 8 to 5 when I'm sixty. Even my current 8 to 2 schedule is exhausting. Plus, I’m wondering what we'll even do for eight full hours every day. Will they at least provide breakfast and lunch?

Brian Wilson7 said:One day it might be English, the next math, then German... there are kids who actually enjoy taking every single class because they love it.
I still have nine years until retirement. I really hope I don't have to work like this for more than four; I can't imagine being stuck in a school from 8 to 5 when I'm sixty. Even my current 8 to 2 schedule is exhausting. Plus, I’m wondering what we'll even do for eight full hours every day. Will they at least provide breakfast and lunch?

And what about the other kids? It says regular school is mandatory until age 15.😁
If their classes wrap up by 1 PM (though I'm not sure how that'll work), they'll still have two hours left to spend at school.

Plus, they announced such a massive overhaul in education at some obscure press conference that was barely even broadcastable. Three journalists asked three generic questions, and then—silence. Not a single relevant news outlet has picked it up since. That’s just how our media works, along with our leadership and their supposed concern for children, education, and the future in general.
The whole thing stinks. Tonight, it'll be a topic on Open, so you can expect an absolutely honest and objective presentation of the matter on PBS by the Republican administration—if you can call it that.

Kids are going to be practically forced to rot in schools all day long, seeing their families only in the evening hours. They'll spend most of their time stuck indoors with hundreds of other students, some of whom—let's be real—are incredibly problematic bullies who now have more rights than their victims because the school system has been systematically gutted. You can't discipline anyone; pedagogical measures are nothing more than dead letters on paper, and the outside institutions meant to support schools provide zero help. Schools are lacking psychologists, specialists, and therapists. There isn't enough qualified staff left to save, whether it's mathematicians, physicists, or chemists; soon there won't even be linguists. And yet, they're offering pathetic little percentage increases for a drastic increase in workload? I don't know how they aren't even ashamed anymore. How do they dare? They blow millions on national exams that are basically just a footnote in The Wall Street Journal, while there's no money for actual teachers.
Furthermore, all the money they supposedly pulled from the European Union isn't going toward infrastructure upgrades. They're just pulling the wool over our eyes, claiming they'll build enough schools by 2027 to allow for single-shift schedules. We're talking about administrations in power that haven't even managed to fix the damage from the earthquake after three years. Once again, certain pockets will be lined, and some campaigns will be funded on everyone else's dime. I'm disgusted by all of them.

How is it that the people actually working within the system weren't consulted? Why hasn't a single basic poll been conducted among teachers, or why wasn't expert opinion sought from those on the ground regarding the actual situation and real needs? How is it that parents are usually dragged into every single school process, but suddenly there's no public opinion survey regarding full-day instruction?

Personally, I DO NOT want an institution raising my children. Surprisingly, there are actually parents out there who enjoy spending time with their kids.

Rebecca Clark6 said:From what I’ve gathered, classes wrap up by the 15th, and after that, everything shifts over to extracurricular activities.
It probably won't be happening every single day, though.

Every day. The weekly workload for students spikes drastically, both in core subjects and, unfortunately, with homeroom duties. These are ideas coming from people who haven't stepped foot in an American school system in years—if they ever have at all.

Honestly, this feels like an absolute crime.
🤮

I also just realized that the mandatory portion ends around 3:00 or 3:30 PM
Something like that.
And I think whatever happens after that is optional.
In any case, I feel like starting classes at 9:00 AM for the older grades would be a great move. That is, assuming they provide a decent lunch and snacks. Which, let’s be honest, probably won't happen, so it might not work out as intended.

To be perfectly honest, I haven't spent too much energy worrying about it because I find it hard to believe they can actually build enough schools in just four years to make that a reality.

Still, there is a small part of me that is glad to see all that backlash from the previous reform finally being addressed. That old chapter is closing, and a new one is beginning. 🙂

Kids will probably start backing away from electives once they realize how much work is actually involved, like those drama or art clubs, if that’s what the school is aiming for. I believe a second language becomes a requirement starting in fourth grade.