Instructional time a priority for Burrell's Bon Air Elementary as reconfiguration on tap

The most important schedule features at a reconfigured Bon Air Elementary School next year appear to be equitable minutes for instruction and maintaining integrity of support time for students.

That’s what the Bon Air task force prioritized the most when asked by Superintendent Shannon Wagner during a meeting Tuesday.

The task force is a group of about 20 parents and staff tasked to give feedback on schedules and plans for reconfigurations of Burrell’s Bon Air and Huston Middle schools next year.

With the closure of Stewart Elementary School, fourth grade classes will be held at Bon Air and fifth graders will be sent to Huston next year.

“There’s not a schedule out there that’s going to accommodate everything,” Wagner said, “so we need to determine what’s important.”

Wagner and Bon Air Principals Jim Croushore and Amy Lenart presented their proposal to the task force Jan. 14. Last week, the task force provided feedback on that proposal.

After discussions last week, Wagner said Bon Air will offer traditional “specials” — classes like art and music — next year. Administrators had originally proposed homeroom teachers co-teaching specials with the special teacher.

But task force members pushed back on that idea, saying the traditional schedule allows them to collaborate on co-curricular material when appropriate and best serve students.

Wagner also said the finalized schedule will make sure teachers’ planning period time is consistent with contractual requirements.

The original proposal from administrators had overlapping support times for students, but task force members wanted to maintain the integrity of that time to best serve students, prioritizing that Tuesday.

They also prioritized instructional time for core classes such as English and math. The original proposal had unbalanced times for those core classes.

The task force also looked into transition times from period to period to be included in the schedule, grade match-ups for lunchtime in the cafeteria, and music opportunities specifically for fourth graders.

Wagner said she will try to incorporate the priorities and present another proposal to the task force when it meets next week. It is scheduled to present its overall findings to the school board March 11.

“Hopefully next week, we can find something that works,” she said.