GREENFIELD — The mayor is questioning the value of renewing the public school Expanded Learning Time program, although the superintendent insists the state-funded $800,000 program is valuable.
A special ELT subcommittee plans to meet on the topic Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Newton School. On Wednesday, there will be a public hearing regarding the proposed overall operating budget for the coming school year.
“The grant is absolutely phenomenal,” superintendent Jordana Harper said of the three-year funding which is in its final year. School officials hope to apply for another $800,000 three-year grant to continue the program.
ELT has been cited in helping boost enrollment in Greenfield public schools, but the mayor says it may put a strain on the overall budget.
ELT is used in various ways by the Greenfield schools that participate. In general, it lengthens the school day an hour and a half. The old concept of ELT was that it added time onto the end of the day, when extracurricular types of programs would take place. Now, schools like the Math and Science Academy use it as a means to teach an extra science class during the middle of the day. There has been emphasis placed on the word “expanded” and not “extended” to indicate that the day can be altered at any point of the school session.
The main point of contention is whether ELT will be supplemented with local tax dollars through the operating budget. In a year with a tight budget and likely cuts, Mayor William Martin wants to look into this more closely — especially how much teachers are getting paid for a longer work day and where that money comes from.