BURNING UP: 2017-18 calendar raises heat questions
About: Because this article is about community concerns regarding the 2017-18 calendar, my main goal was to show all of the different opinions expressed. I talked to multiple administrators along with a teacher and student to show various sides. In addition, I contacted the Harvard PHD student whose study I referred to to clarify questions regarding his study and assure I understood it all. I did this to assure the information from my district that I was comparing to the study was actually comparable and that I was not making far-fetched connections. I made sure to verify the information I used in the bolded section below with multiple administrators to assure that it was correct so that the statistics would be accurate.
Story:
When Nihal Isaac, mother of freshman Noah Isaac and senior Jade Isaac, spoke at the District 99 School Board meeting last year on Feb. 1, she had one goal: relieve her daughter’s winter break stress by moving final exams before break.
“Over the past three years, I have witnessed firsthand what having the semester end after winter break does to students,” Isaac said. “My daughter, Jade, spends anywhere from one-half to two-thirds of her winter break completing study guide packets for her classes in preparation for finals.”
District 99 began work last December to create an early start calendar for this upcoming school year. The result led to a five day earlier 2017-2018 calendar that bumps finals before break and cuts the school stress out of the holiday season.
However, less days in the generally mild temperatures of early June mean more days in the heat of August. Only 51% of D99 classrooms have air conditioning.
A recent Harvard study suggests that student performance lowers with the increase of heat, raising concerns of how heat will impact student performance and school function during first months of school.
The study, conducted by Harvard University PHD student Jisung Park, concluded that students who took the exam on a 90-degree day scored on average 4.5% lower than students who took the test on a 72-degree day. Also the study showed only five additional 80-degree days saw a reduced performance of seven percent of a standard deviation.
According to the website Weather Underground, this past August and September, 50% of the days hit heat indexes of 80 degrees or higher, with the average at 82.5 degrees. This means that if students had started on Aug. 18 this year, as they will next year, 22 out of the 44 days from then until the end of September would have been hot enough to decrease student performance.
The Master Facility Plan, a facility improvement plan for District 99 schools, involves complete air conditioning for both DGN and DGS. However, the district has yet to choose a finalized plan or a set year for the improvements to take place. According to assistant principal Ken Sorensen, for the time being, the school will use fans and ventilation to cool the building.
According to principal Janice Schwarze, heat factored into the calendar decision and the district considered data from other districts who switched to early start calendars without air conditioning.
“Really in the end what we found was that there were few concerns, the heat being one of them, but that other schools had managed to overcome them and were happy that they did. Other schools have been on an early start calendar and not all of them had air conditioning,” Schwarze said.
Teachers’ union vice president Lois Graham questions how the lack of air conditioning will affect the school with the earlier start date.
“It’s just unacceptable for students and it’s unacceptable for faculty and staff … Almost all the other schools in the area have air conditioning and considering this is a district with only two buildings, [the district needs to] find a way to take care of it,” Graham said.
Junior Evie Brindl believes that, while the finals after break are acceptable, the heat is not.
“On hot days, it’s hard for me to stay concentrated on my work when I keep sticking to my desk. I feel really gross and distracted,” Brindl said.
Schwarze, along with multiple other faculty and staff, were part of a calendar committee that reviewed data and multiple versions of the schedule before coming to a final draft.
“This was a conversation that occurred with a lot of people over a long period of time,” principal Janice Schwarze said. “While students might be uncomfortable for those few days, the tradeoff of having those two weeks where they are not having to worry, we felt, was worth the trade off.”
In preparation for the board meeting last February, Isaac researched for information regarding the heat during mid August. She considered this information in her argument to the board.
“I thought it was very important for students to have a mental break during the two weeks of winter break to decompress and recharge,” Isaac said. “… We have had hotter days than [those in August] in September. Weather is unpredictable, yet the benefits to our students of having an early start calendar are very predictable and tangible.”
When Nihal Isaac, mother of freshman Noah Isaac and senior Jade Isaac, spoke at the District 99 School Board meeting last year on Feb. 1, she had one goal: relieve her daughter’s winter break stress by moving final exams before break.
“Over the past three years, I have witnessed firsthand what having the semester end after winter break does to students,” Isaac said. “My daughter, Jade, spends anywhere from one-half to two-thirds of her winter break completing study guide packets for her classes in preparation for finals.”
District 99 began work last December to create an early start calendar for this upcoming school year. The result led to a five day earlier 2017-2018 calendar that bumps finals before break and cuts the school stress out of the holiday season.
However, less days in the generally mild temperatures of early June mean more days in the heat of August. Only 51% of D99 classrooms have air conditioning.
A recent Harvard study suggests that student performance lowers with the increase of heat, raising concerns of how heat will impact student performance and school function during first months of school.
The study, conducted by Harvard University PHD student Jisung Park, concluded that students who took the exam on a 90-degree day scored on average 4.5% lower than students who took the test on a 72-degree day. Also the study showed only five additional 80-degree days saw a reduced performance of seven percent of a standard deviation.
According to the website Weather Underground, this past August and September, 50% of the days hit heat indexes of 80 degrees or higher, with the average at 82.5 degrees. This means that if students had started on Aug. 18 this year, as they will next year, 22 out of the 44 days from then until the end of September would have been hot enough to decrease student performance.
The Master Facility Plan, a facility improvement plan for District 99 schools, involves complete air conditioning for both DGN and DGS. However, the district has yet to choose a finalized plan or a set year for the improvements to take place. According to assistant principal Ken Sorensen, for the time being, the school will use fans and ventilation to cool the building.
According to principal Janice Schwarze, heat factored into the calendar decision and the district considered data from other districts who switched to early start calendars without air conditioning.
“Really in the end what we found was that there were few concerns, the heat being one of them, but that other schools had managed to overcome them and were happy that they did. Other schools have been on an early start calendar and not all of them had air conditioning,” Schwarze said.
Teachers’ union vice president Lois Graham questions how the lack of air conditioning will affect the school with the earlier start date.
“It’s just unacceptable for students and it’s unacceptable for faculty and staff … Almost all the other schools in the area have air conditioning and considering this is a district with only two buildings, [the district needs to] find a way to take care of it,” Graham said.
Junior Evie Brindl believes that, while the finals after break are acceptable, the heat is not.
“On hot days, it’s hard for me to stay concentrated on my work when I keep sticking to my desk. I feel really gross and distracted,” Brindl said.
Schwarze, along with multiple other faculty and staff, were part of a calendar committee that reviewed data and multiple versions of the schedule before coming to a final draft.
“This was a conversation that occurred with a lot of people over a long period of time,” principal Janice Schwarze said. “While students might be uncomfortable for those few days, the tradeoff of having those two weeks where they are not having to worry, we felt, was worth the trade off.”
In preparation for the board meeting last February, Isaac researched for information regarding the heat during mid August. She considered this information in her argument to the board.
“I thought it was very important for students to have a mental break during the two weeks of winter break to decompress and recharge,” Isaac said. “… We have had hotter days than [those in August] in September. Weather is unpredictable, yet the benefits to our students of having an early start calendar are very predictable and tangible.”
Statewide substitute shortage affects D99 schools
About: For this article, one of the biggest struggles I faced was trying to verify facts. While conducting interviews, all of my sources were telling me different amounts for substitute wages, district policies for subbing, etc. I ended up going directly to the district human resource officer who verified what numbers were correct. In addition to interviewing various administrators, substitutes and teachers, I also contacted the president of an independent organization who conducted a recent survey to Illinois schools about substitute shortages.
Published: Online at dgnomega.org and in print on March 20, 2017.
Story:
Walking into his English class fifth period, junior Brian Kosek was greeted by what had become the norm for the last two weeks: another substitute teacher. While his English teacher Lori Vanek was out for two weeks, the class was taught by a different substitute almost every day.
“It was strange and hard to stay on task due to a different sub every day giving us instructions. Not many people got work done because the instructions given to us were vague and contradictory to what had been told to us,” Kosek said. “It was also very hard [to] understand the directions. Everyone was behind due to lack in structure.”
Due to challenges finding substitute teachers, some classrooms in the district are filled with internal substitutes, who are regular teachers using their free periods to substitute for other teachers. Additionally, an increase last year in the number of periods substitute teachers in District 99 are required to cover has led to more chaotic schedules, with a single substitute sometimes managing the classes of multiple absent teachers.
Despite the per-period wages for internal substitutes being significantly higher than that of regular substitute teachers, for the 2015-16 school year, District 99 spent significantly less on internal substitutes than on external ones: $125,373.42 on external substitutes and $43,211.01 on internal substitutes for DGN.
Retired 30-year math and CTE teacher Chuck Hlavaty sees the recent district requirement that substitutes teach seven periods instead of six as a loss for substitutes, especially retired DGN teachers looking to teach lessons in their former subject area.
“[The loss of a planning period] has been the biggest detriment, the biggest negative, in subbing,” Hlavaty said. “As a diligent teacher, I would read the book, read the assignment myself, work out the problems, and that takes prep time. They have taken away all prep time. So you have no time to prep to make a teaching presentation with confidence to the class. They’ve turned subbing from an opportunity for an experienced teacher to present a lesson and actually teach the students to babysitting. Now, you don’t have time to prepare, because instead of preparing for five classes [and a supervisory period], you no longer have a prep period to do that and you’re in two, three different departments just running around filling space.”
According to assistant superintendent for human resources Peter Theis, the increase in substitute teachers’ loads from six periods to seven that occurred last year resulted in a daily pay increase from $96 to $105 for substitutes with no district 99 teaching experience. The pay for retired district 99 teachers increased from $104 to $105. The pay for retired teachers subbing in their former teaching area remained at $125.
Theis came to the decision to increase the number of periods for substitutes after meeting with other human resources officers at a monthly Northwest Personnel Administrators meeting.
“The idea being that daily subs are not preparing lessons or grading student work and thus did not need that extra period. A quick, informal show of hands [at the meeting] revealed that close to half the districts were doing this or preparing to implement a similar plan. I decided to follow this plan starting with the 2015-16 school year, and in a nod to the extra work that would be involved, raised the daily sub rate from $96 per day to $105 per day,” Theis said.
Despite this increase in pay for external substitutes, internal ones are still needed frequently. English teacher Matthew Greaney, who had a planning period first hour last year, recalls being asked frequently to substitute for other teachers during his off period.
“I’d say day-by-day there is a pretty constant flow of internal subbing,” Greaney said. “It is almost relative to the periods that you have free. When I had a first hour plan [period], I was getting asked to do it all the time. In most cases there are lots of people that are willing to take them, so I just let them go.”
For a single period, a teacher internally subbing earns $35.11, while outside substitute teachers make either $15 or $17.85, per class period, depending on whether they are a retired district employee. When subbing for a full day, which is seven periods, a regular substitute earns $105 per day and a retired district 99 teacher earns $125.
But according to Hlavaty, the biggest problem is not the lack of a pay increase, but the loss of a planning period, which makes it harder for substitute teachers to actually teach.
“The retired teachers who worked in the district take it seriously, and I think it is disrespectful to run them around like chickens just to fill a spot. Instead of saving a penny, [the district is] spending more in the long run because they are defeating the purpose of the students getting a good lesson out of it. What is more important? Saving a few dollars or getting a skilled person to do a good job in the classroom to the benefit of the students?” Hlavaty asked.
For a substitute with no teaching experience, per period wages at schools in the West Suburban Silver conference range from to $15 to $21. District 99 has the lowest per period rate for not experienced substitutes of $15 per period, with the conference average at around $18 per period.
Although District 99 is able to fill classrooms not covered by external substitutes, many schools in Illinois are struggling to make this happen. According to a press release from the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents, 16 percent of absences are not covered by substitute teachers each week. This is even more of an issue in southern Illinois, where 26 percent of absences are not covered by substitute teachers. When classrooms cannot be covered by substitutes, schools often have to resort to using internal substitutes or combining classes.
"Now that we know this is a significant problem in our schools, we need to work to make it easier for qualified people to become substitute teachers, especially in shortage areas downstate, and we need to work comprehensively to draw more young people into the demanding yet rewarding profession of teaching and mentoring our next generation,” IARSS president Jeff Vose said in the press release.
According to Vose, recent legislation has worked to try and combat the substitute shortage by making it easier to become a substitute.
“We had been working with the State Board of Education, legislators, stakeholder groups, principals associations, teacher unions and school administrator associations to get legislation changed to streamline the process to make it less difficult to become a substitute and to become a teacher. Senate bill 2912 was passed earlier this year.” Vose said.
Due to important information being received close to our publication date, the Omega was unable to confidently include all information in this article at this time. For updates on this story, please check www.dgnomega.org.
Walking into his English class fifth period, junior Brian Kosek was greeted by what had become the norm for the last two weeks: another substitute teacher. While his English teacher Lori Vanek was out for two weeks, the class was taught by a different substitute almost every day.
“It was strange and hard to stay on task due to a different sub every day giving us instructions. Not many people got work done because the instructions given to us were vague and contradictory to what had been told to us,” Kosek said. “It was also very hard [to] understand the directions. Everyone was behind due to lack in structure.”
Due to challenges finding substitute teachers, some classrooms in the district are filled with internal substitutes, who are regular teachers using their free periods to substitute for other teachers. Additionally, an increase last year in the number of periods substitute teachers in District 99 are required to cover has led to more chaotic schedules, with a single substitute sometimes managing the classes of multiple absent teachers.
Despite the per-period wages for internal substitutes being significantly higher than that of regular substitute teachers, for the 2015-16 school year, District 99 spent significantly less on internal substitutes than on external ones: $125,373.42 on external substitutes and $43,211.01 on internal substitutes for DGN.
Retired 30-year math and CTE teacher Chuck Hlavaty sees the recent district requirement that substitutes teach seven periods instead of six as a loss for substitutes, especially retired DGN teachers looking to teach lessons in their former subject area.
“[The loss of a planning period] has been the biggest detriment, the biggest negative, in subbing,” Hlavaty said. “As a diligent teacher, I would read the book, read the assignment myself, work out the problems, and that takes prep time. They have taken away all prep time. So you have no time to prep to make a teaching presentation with confidence to the class. They’ve turned subbing from an opportunity for an experienced teacher to present a lesson and actually teach the students to babysitting. Now, you don’t have time to prepare, because instead of preparing for five classes [and a supervisory period], you no longer have a prep period to do that and you’re in two, three different departments just running around filling space.”
According to assistant superintendent for human resources Peter Theis, the increase in substitute teachers’ loads from six periods to seven that occurred last year resulted in a daily pay increase from $96 to $105 for substitutes with no district 99 teaching experience. The pay for retired district 99 teachers increased from $104 to $105. The pay for retired teachers subbing in their former teaching area remained at $125.
Theis came to the decision to increase the number of periods for substitutes after meeting with other human resources officers at a monthly Northwest Personnel Administrators meeting.
“The idea being that daily subs are not preparing lessons or grading student work and thus did not need that extra period. A quick, informal show of hands [at the meeting] revealed that close to half the districts were doing this or preparing to implement a similar plan. I decided to follow this plan starting with the 2015-16 school year, and in a nod to the extra work that would be involved, raised the daily sub rate from $96 per day to $105 per day,” Theis said.
Despite this increase in pay for external substitutes, internal ones are still needed frequently. English teacher Matthew Greaney, who had a planning period first hour last year, recalls being asked frequently to substitute for other teachers during his off period.
“I’d say day-by-day there is a pretty constant flow of internal subbing,” Greaney said. “It is almost relative to the periods that you have free. When I had a first hour plan [period], I was getting asked to do it all the time. In most cases there are lots of people that are willing to take them, so I just let them go.”
For a single period, a teacher internally subbing earns $35.11, while outside substitute teachers make either $15 or $17.85, per class period, depending on whether they are a retired district employee. When subbing for a full day, which is seven periods, a regular substitute earns $105 per day and a retired district 99 teacher earns $125.
But according to Hlavaty, the biggest problem is not the lack of a pay increase, but the loss of a planning period, which makes it harder for substitute teachers to actually teach.
“The retired teachers who worked in the district take it seriously, and I think it is disrespectful to run them around like chickens just to fill a spot. Instead of saving a penny, [the district is] spending more in the long run because they are defeating the purpose of the students getting a good lesson out of it. What is more important? Saving a few dollars or getting a skilled person to do a good job in the classroom to the benefit of the students?” Hlavaty asked.
For a substitute with no teaching experience, per period wages at schools in the West Suburban Silver conference range from to $15 to $21. District 99 has the lowest per period rate for not experienced substitutes of $15 per period, with the conference average at around $18 per period.
Although District 99 is able to fill classrooms not covered by external substitutes, many schools in Illinois are struggling to make this happen. According to a press release from the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents, 16 percent of absences are not covered by substitute teachers each week. This is even more of an issue in southern Illinois, where 26 percent of absences are not covered by substitute teachers. When classrooms cannot be covered by substitutes, schools often have to resort to using internal substitutes or combining classes.
"Now that we know this is a significant problem in our schools, we need to work to make it easier for qualified people to become substitute teachers, especially in shortage areas downstate, and we need to work comprehensively to draw more young people into the demanding yet rewarding profession of teaching and mentoring our next generation,” IARSS president Jeff Vose said in the press release.
According to Vose, recent legislation has worked to try and combat the substitute shortage by making it easier to become a substitute.
“We had been working with the State Board of Education, legislators, stakeholder groups, principals associations, teacher unions and school administrator associations to get legislation changed to streamline the process to make it less difficult to become a substitute and to become a teacher. Senate bill 2912 was passed earlier this year.” Vose said.
Due to important information being received close to our publication date, the Omega was unable to confidently include all information in this article at this time. For updates on this story, please check www.dgnomega.org.
