Early-release Wednesdays reduced to once a month as part of employee contract negotiation
Press release from Alachua County Public Schools
ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. – Under an agreement between Alachua County Public Schools and the Alachua County Education Association, which represents most district employees, early-release Wednesdays will be limited to the third Wednesday of each month for the 2024-25 school year.
In March 2025, the early-release Wednesday will be on the fourth Wednesday, March 26, so that it does not conflict with Spring Break.
The change will apply to all elementary schools in the district, plus all students at High Springs Community School, A. Quinn Jones School, and Sidney Lanier School, which also follow the early release schedule. It will also affect the newly-reopened Duval Early Learning Academy for prekindergarten students.
Under the previous schedule, students at the affected schools left school 68 minutes early every Wednesday. That time was set aside for teacher planning, meetings, and other activities.
The change will add approximately six days of instructional time to the school year. Teachers will have planning time on regular Wednesdays while their students are in other classes.
“We appreciate ACEA’s willingness to work with us on this change,” said Superintendent Shane Andrew. “It will give our students much more direct instructional time, which is critical to raising their academic achievement.”
A full schedule of start and dismissal times for the upcoming school year, including early release Wednesdays, is available at https://www.sbac.edu/schoolhours.
Families have been notified through email and phone of the change. They have also received texts if they’ve opted in to the district’s texting notification system.
Teachers union has more control than the damn school board.
“We appreciate ACEA’s willingness to work with us on this change,” said Superintendent Shane Andrew. “It will give our students much more direct instructional time, which is critical to raising their academic achievement.”
Ben – It was the school board who wanted this change and the teacher’s union agreed to it. Either you’re unable to read with comprehension or just couldn’t wait to post a negative comment which is on brand for many commenters on the Chronicle.
Somebody forgot or didn’t know how to push the “Send” button on their email? Parents and faculty have been waiting for weeks for the answer since this was originally brought up.
Guess the potential impact on their lives didn’t really matter.
We are talking past one another. My comment was due to the fact that our school board has to negotiate with a public sector union in order to even do what it thinks is right. Those employees work for the school system so their union shouldn’t be involved with running the damn show. Public sector unions are a racket and a political weapon — they have no place in our society. The teachers union does not have the children’s best interest in mind…
As they should. They’re the ones actually doing the jobs, so unless you’re ready to put together a curriculum, thank them for making Alachua one of the better counties in the state for teachers to work.
Lack of instructional time is NOT the problem with low academic achievement. Look at college classes. 50 minutes, 3x a week.
The union has FAILED teachers and dropped the ball by committing teachers to this. I’m considering dropping my membership because they are clearly out of touch with the reality of a teacher’s work week.
Those Wednesday hours are invaluable for educators. So many of us barely even have planning time during the week due to the CONSTANT meetings. This ensures that teachers will be forced to take even more work home, without compensation. The board knows this and still refuses to give us a raise.This is unbelievable!
There is a mass exodus of SBAC employees happening right now. Teachers, support staff and facilities personnel have given up on the leadership. Most are finding better work environments and better pay.
“Early-release Wednesdays”
Getting them ready for the pre-trial early release when they get arrested?