Saturday school days approved for next school year in Oklahoma

Previously banned under state law, school days on Saturday are now a viable option for Oklahoma school districts because of COVID-19.

Public school districts in the 2020-21 school year could use Saturdays as an instructional day, if they wish to construct a school-year calendar with classes on the weekend.

The Oklahoma State Board of Education voted Thursday to grant waivers for a state law that prohibits regular classes on Saturdays.

“Districts are taking this time right now during the summer to plan for Plan B, Plan C, Plan D, and definitely there would be a need for as great a flexibility as we can give them,” state schools Superintendent Joy Hofmeister said after the board meeting.

The Oklahoma State Department of Education encouraged districts to create multiple calendars and contingencies for the next school year in case another spike in COVID-19 cases occurs. All public schools in the state finished the 2019-20 school year with at-home distance learning to prevent spread of the coronavirus.

Some districts already use various forms of Saturday school, but until now it wasn’t an instructional day that counted toward the total 180 days or 1,080 hours of the school year, Hofmeister said.

Estela Hernandez was one of two board members who opposed Saturday classes. She said the board should create flexibility for districts in ways that don’t infringe on weekends.

“Students have gone through quite a bit of stress emotionally and mentally, and for us to open up and take away that weekend time that they have with their families ... would not be a wise thing,” Hernandez said. “I think we can think outside the box and look for other options for our districts to be creative in how to add time due to this pandemic.”

Hofmeister said districts have told her they are more likely to use Saturdays for a rotating class schedule than to have a six-day school week.

Although districts prefer to reopen schools normally, some are considering an alternating schedule in which students come to school only a few days a week and then switch with others who were learning at home, she said. This would bring a smaller population of students into a school at a time.

Some students struggle to learn from home because they lack the necessary technology in their household, board member Carlisha Williams-Bradley said. Saturdays could provide much needed time in the classroom for those children.

“COVID has spotlighted the digital divide,” Williams-Bradley said. “As we’re going back to school and we’re working to close those (learning) gaps, the ability for school districts to have the space to offer instructional time, I think is a wise move.”

Edmond Public Schools Superintendent Bret Towne said school districts welcome the added flexibility of class on Saturday, even though Edmond is not considering it among its contingency plans.

Bethel Public Schools in Shawnee would be more likely to use Saturdays for virtual instruction, Superintendent Tod Harrison said. If schools were forced to resume distance learning, students could complete online assignments on the weekend.

Harrison said he does not expect the district to have students sitting in classrooms on Saturdays.

Both Edmond and Bethel hope to reopen their schools with normal schedules next school year, their superintendents said. However, the unpredictability of COVID-19 pushed both districts to plan for hybrid schedules and full-time distance learning.

“Edmond being the third largest school district in the state is ... not going to have some of the issues that a small school would, and they don’t have the same issues we have,” Towne said. “There is no one-size-fits-all solution, and that’s where everyone is appreciative of the flexibility and the guidance that we’re getting from the state and the state department.”