Because we are extra sensitive to the needs of our parents, Catholic schools often operate on a razor thin margin that makes budgeting difficult. One way we can save significant monies that we often don't think about during the budgeting process is how we go about scheduling the academic day and how we schedule our teachers as part of the day. Here are a few ideas to consider:
1) In my previous school of roughly 300 students in grades 9-12, we had a 7 period day, with teachers required to teach five of those seven periods, or 71% of the school day. Classes met in roughly 50 minute blocks. There were a number of problems: First, carrying seven classes at a time was difficult for our students, especially in terms of homework loads. Second, the 50 minute classes were too short to advance the kind of curriculum we wanted, with labs in science classes, for example, or significant discussions and constructivist learning in other classes. Third, it was expensive to give teachers two free periods, but asking them to teach an additional class would take away their planning time and almost certainly guarantee an extra prep. I believed it would over-tax them.
We looked at a variety of models, including the "block schedule" where students carry just four classes each semester, 90 minutes/class, and cover a full year in a single semester. After much discussion and research, I became convinced the last fifteen minutes of the "block" were often wasted in too many classes, making it impossible to "cover" the yearly curriculum in a semester's time. We needed something in between the 50 and 90 minute periods.
So in the mid 1990's, we implemented a "trimester" schedule. Students took five classes of 72 minutes each and earned a half-credit in of those classes per trimester. For a student to earn a full credit, then, they had to take two trimesters of a class. Teachers taught four of five classes (80% of the school day), which turned out to be a manageable load, especially since they were teaching fewer students each trimester (4 classes times 20'ish students=80 vs. five classes of 20'ish=100). Students and parents liked it because their daily load was lessened considerably, making homework more manageable. Furthermore, students could earn an extra half credit each year (3 trimesters of 5 classes =7.5 credits, vs. 7 credits in the old model). And, to the point of this article, it saved us significant monies. Why? Because teachers were teaching 9% more of the day, which translated, on a faculty of 22 teachers, to two full-time teachers--anywhere from $70-90,000 once all the benefits were added in. No small amount!
Let me anticipate an objection: We ran the trimester for ten years and tracked test scores closely. There was no drop off in academic achievement with our kids. In fact, the trimester system gave us some flexibility that added to our academic success, such as the ability to schedule a remedial second trimester class for students who did poorly in Composition I in the first trimester (a class we considered pivotal for future success), or adding a third trimester requirement for Advanced Placement classes in Physics, Chemistry or Calculus that required students to dig much deeper.
2) Most elementary schools offer after school care programs, and increasingly, our parents expect there to be some curricular element to them, where students are offered exploratory classes in art, or music, or foreign language, for example. It's expensive to hire qualified teachers who are available in those time slots! At the same time, we invest a lot of monies into having art, music and foreign language teachers in our school programs, and when budgets get tight, we often cut those programs and move those teachers to part time.
But there's another option: Why not ask our art, music and foreign language teacher to begin their day around 10 a.m. and end their day at 5'ish, with the expectation they will teach in our after school programs? Yes, that cuts two hours of time from their ability to teach students in the school each day, but the reality is there are no requirements that dictate how often we must offer these enrichment classes each week. And though our "special" teachers would likely prefer an 8-3 job along with everyone else, most would opt for a full time gig, even if 10-5.
3) I believe most Catholic schools, and especially Catholic elementary schools, are woefully understaffed at the administrative level. We expect our principals to run our day care programs in addition to our K-8 programs, often with only a beleaguered secretary and guidance counselor as part of the administrative "team." They must respond to every question, answer every appeal, serve as the "referee" for every dispute. Corporate America recommends that managers be responsible for 8-10 "direct reports," employees who directly report to them. Our principals are typically responsible for 15-30 direct reports, not counting their myriad other responsibilities. Many of our schools need, at minimum, an assistant principal, but cannot afford one.
Some schools have responded by creating a layer of administration from within their teaching ranks, configuring their schools in K-2, 3-5 and 6-8 "units" and designating a "lead teacher" in charge of each unit. They then stipend the lead teacher a certain amount of money to recognize the work they do (the amount varies--a school I know stipends them $2,000) and if possible, gives them an extra free period as relief from their teaching load.
The key is how the principals use these lead teachers. Smart principals will insist the lead teachers are responsible for all curricular planning. I would suggest they also ask the lead teachers to "vet" all teacher candidates for openings within their unit, making a recommendation to the principal after doing the initial interviews. I would suggest considering the lead teachers as part of the "administrative team" that leads the school and meeting with them once/week to talk about issues. I would insist that if parents have issues with a particular grade, they first address the teacher, then the lead teacher, and only then, the principal.
If we use lead teachers in this way, we can take a real load off principals, even while giving our best and brightest teachers the chance to advance in their careers, possibly even as an interim step toward becoming assistant principals or principals down the road. And let's compare costs: three lead teachers with stipends of 2,000 each year plus one less class each day might cost the school $10k or $12k, vs. $40k, $45k or $50k for an assistant principal once the full time benefits are included.
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