District proposes new middle‑school schedule and pushes full‑day kindergarten planning

Middle‑school principals and central office staff outlined a revised schedule intended to expand targeted academic interventions, increase homeroom/check‑in time and add an uninterrupted 30‑minute Intervention & Enrichment (I&E) period before lunch on a six‑day cycle.

Presenter Doctor Cloon said the schedule would preserve core instructional time while creating a predictable slot for tiered interventions, small‑group instruction and gift‑ed seminars. ‘‘We really feel that our data is indicating this to us,’’ Cloon said, and the proposal includes piloting evidence‑based SEL curricula (Second Step and Character Strong) and building systems for teacher planning and data‑driven intervention grouping.

Administrators said the I&E block is designed to deliver tier 1, 2 and 3 supports by rotating students through core‑class check‑ins, short‑term small groups and targeted special‑education instruction where appropriate. Sample schedules show homeroom time increasing by several minutes and class periods moving from 52 to 48 minutes to accommodate the new block while maintaining the school day length.

Public commenters and some board members raised concerns that the schedule reduces time for core subjects and questioned the recency and transferability of the research cited. Administrators said peer districts are piloting similar models and that careful curriculum planning and data tracking would ensure interventions do not dilute core instruction.

Separately, the district reported progress on full‑day kindergarten planning: administrators continue to align curriculum and instructional minutes, plan site visits, and seek furniture and resource recommendations so full‑day programming can begin in the fall. Registration numbers are being used for staffing projections — the administration reported roughly 248 registrations to date and projected a cohort near 266 under a cohort‑model forecast — and asked families to register by the end of February to inform staffing decisions.

Board members requested follow‑up on opt‑out language for SEL curricula and disaggregated achievement data for students with and without IEPs to better understand the schedule’s academic tradeoffs.