photo by: Celia Llopis-Jepsen/Kansas News Service

Kansas Education Commissioner Randy Watson has suggested half-day summer school for kindergarten through third grade students who are below grade level in math or reading.

Kansas students are spending fewer days in school than they did decades ago, and the state’s top education leader wants that to change.

Education Commissioner Randy Watson is urging districts to cancel breaks or extend the school year to make up for days that were canceled because of inclement weather.

Most districts lost about eight days of school this winter because of snow or bitterly cold conditions.

Watson recently told the Kansas State Board of education that districts should also consider half-day summer school in June and July, at least for kindergarten through third grade students who are below grade level in reading or math.

He said the boost is needed to make up for learning losses that began before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Recovery is incrementally very slow,” Watson said. “While I think we should start thinking about our schedule for next year, I’m thinking, ‘How do we even jumpstart the learning … right now?'”

Kansas law requires public schools to have a minimum of 186 days, or at least 1,116 total hours each academic year. Over the past decade, most districts have opted to have longer but fewer school days — adding minutes to the daily schedule but shortening the school year.

In 2008, the average school year in Kansas was 174 days. This year, it’s 166. Some districts — particularly those with four-day weeks — have school only 141 days a year.

No district meets the minimum daily requirement of 186 days. The longest academic calendar is 183.4 days.

Watson said districts have added about 21 minutes to the school day, which equates to three minutes per class period in most high schools.

“Go ask a music teacher: ‘Would you rather have three minutes, or would you rather go to school eight more days?'” Watson said. “A music teacher’s going to say, ‘I want the eight days.'”

State law allows the Kansas State Board of Education to waive the minimum requirement for districts because of inclement weather or other factors.

But Watson discouraged board members from granting waivers, saying districts could make up the time by canceling scheduled breaks or adding days to the calendar.

“The state board will look at that at the end of the year when we see if you’ve exhausted all your avenues,” Watson said. “And right now, you have a lot of time left that you could … make up that time.”

A kindergarten class at Colvin Elementary School in Wichita listen to their teacher during class in 2021. State Education Commissioner Randy Watson suggests schools should consider half-day summer school for younger students who are below grade level in reading or math.

He said that schedule would amount to at least 48 hours of additional learning time.

“If we could get 90% of the kids 48 to 49 hours of instruction, what progress we could make in a short period of time,” Watson said.

He said districts could use special education or state at-risk funds to help pay for summer classes.

The proposal stops short of year-round schooling — an idea some educators and lawmakers have floated in the past that is unpopular with most Kansas districts and families.

Two years ago, Republican Rep. Bill Rhiley introduced a bill that would have mandated a minimum of 195 eight-hour school days or 156 10-hour days, but it never made it out of committee.

Advocates of year-round school say frequent, shorter breaks are better for students because they mitigate learning loss that can happen over long summer vacations. Opponents say year-round schedules cost more and leave less time for extracurricular activities like summer-league sports.

Watson said he’s not opposed to year-round school. But a half-day summer school plan for students who need it most would be an incremental improvement that could have huge benefits, he said.

“Engaging parents in that conversation is going to be easier for them to agree to than changing the entire schedule that we’ve run for 100 years,” Watson said.

Several Kansas districts spent a portion of their federal COVID-19 funding to pay for expanded summer school programs. But only a small fraction of students attended.

Wichita, the state’s largest school district, sent about 21,500 invitations to its summer programs for students in kindergarten through eighth grade in 2021. Despite incentives such as free breakfast, lunch and transportation, only 4,600 — about one in five — enrolled.

Watson said Kansas needs a social and cultural shift toward academics the way many districts and families emphasize sports and other activities.

“If you have a high school kid who’s involved (in sports or band), it’s hard to take a vacation because they’re required to be there for weight training or for marching,” he said. “We need that intensity around academics.”