Resolved: Year Round School Is Good

In the USA, the traditional school year has its roots in the agrarian society of America's founders. Children were needed during the summer months to assist their families with sowing, cultivating and harvesting of crops. Today, only 15% of the American population live in rural counties but only 2% of the population live on farmers. Farming is technology rich and even when children live on farms, they are not needed to assist their families. So, as our society and population evolves, it makes sense that traditions begun based on archaic necessities, evolve as well. School districts, faced with a growing and diverse student population are switching to year round schools. According to a Congressional Research Paper complied by Rebecca R Skinner in 2014, the trend towards year round school is growing. In 1985 there were 410 year round public schools in the USA, serving roughly 350,000 students. Today, that number has risen to 3, 059 (at the time of publication) schools serving over 2.2 million students in 45 states. There has been a 27% rise in year round schools since 2007. The time the student spends in school is roughly 180 days, given the traditional track or a year round track. Therefore amount of class time is not considered in determining whether a school district adopts the year round approach. The biggest consideration for most districts appear to be student retention and cost analysis. 1) Student retention: Students forget things. They always gave and always will but how much is the real question. Today classes are not just teaching reading, wringing and arithmetic as they were when our agrarian scheduled based schools sprang up. Today, students, depending upon their grade level, may be learning advanced physics, trigonometry, engineering, code writing, a plethora of languages etc. Students in the lower grades are just laying the foundation of reading, writing, science, culture, history and of course, socialization by spending time with similar age peers. During a traditional year, many students forget vast amounts of what they have learned. Teachers often report that it takes the first month back to ascertain what each student has remembered or forgotten. Tests, quizzes and instruction on previously learned material, takes up several weeks of the new year. A year round calendar provides shorter breaks, allowing children to rest and recharge their batteries, it also allows the children to retain more information they have learned. Certainly we remember things better after a 3 week break than a 3 month break. In addition, the increase in special education students (autism, for instance, is growing at an alarming rate) and ESL students are better helped with year around school. It has often been postulated that low income students also benefit more from year round school year, again due to more retention. 2) Cost Analysis The financial aspects of year round school vary widely. Schools with many students have found using multiple track year round schools are cost effective because the buildings are used more efficiently and new facilities do not need to be constructed, saving the district money in building expenditures. Remedial programs can be offered during the 3 week breaks, if absolutely necessary, which assist the district financially in that "extended school year" (special needs sessions, ESL sessions, "lagging behind" students) does not have to be offered and the school staffed and maintained for small groups of students. 3) Family difficulties Some families say the year round school prevents family vacations. First, according to the American Travel Association and a Skift survey conducted in 2014, 62% of Americans take no family vacation at all. 31% say they cannot afford it. Only 15% of Americans state they take an extended summer vacation. That is a very small percentage. In addition, on a year round schedule, it is likely that all or part of a 3 week break will occur during the summer months, allowing a family that would take a 7-10 day vacation, the opportunity to do so. Yes, it is more fun in the sun and children will be able to experience it after school or on break. However, it must be stated that even during summer months, children tend to stay indoors playing video games, watching television or chatting with friends on iPhones or iPads. Even during vacation, many children will prefer video games over camping or the beach so exposure to sun during summer months seems nearly irrelevant. Scheduling for families in year round schools can and should be considered by the district so siblings can be in the same tract, to facilitate families running smoothly. It may take more work at an administrative level but is certainly more than possible. Babysitting or child care is fairly straight forward in traditional school year districts. Families find summer programs and the child is enrolled for the duration of the summer. That is a business that arose from user demand. If user demand changes (the child only needs supervision 3 weeks at a time, every 9 weeks), the demand will be met by enterprising child care businesses. Sports can continue during the 3 week hiatus. Many traditional schools currently begin football and/or track and field training during the summer months. There would be little difference. Friends on different tracks can be seen after school and new friends can be made on the track the student is on. While friends are important, education has to be the focus of the district, not friendships. In conclusion, while research has been done on year round vs traditional school years, the results are inconclusive and most research lacks methodological rigor. We are therefore left to listen to the advantages and disadvantages put forth by districts who have tried it, refuse to try it or are currently using it. The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) in North Carolina is an example of a district that has tried tracks and still use a track system. They have found the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. As a school that has gone from traditional to year round school and learned what works through implementation, they are worthy of a rigorous study but in the meantime we can glean information from students, teachers, parents, administrators who are experiencing it and many think the track system of year round school takes some getting used to but is, in the long run, worth it.