There is only so much learning you can squeeze into one day.

For that reason, most local educators surveyed about the president's request to extend the school day or the school year said they would favor a longer calendar year.

Summer break, some say, lasts too long.

"You lose the first few weeks of the school year to make sure they are ready to hit the ground running," Hempfield School District Superintendent Brenda Becker said. "I'm not opposed to a longer school year at all. I'm not sure the community, and the parents, are ready for it."

Martin J. Hudacs, superintendent of the Solanco School District, agrees. And he agrees with Becker that students will only sit for so long.

On the other hand, Robert Frick, superintendent of Lampeter-Strasburg, would not support either option.

"They are still kids," he said. "I think their year is long enough, and the day is long enough for kids who are between the ages of 5 years old and 18 years old. We — education in general — have to do our best job while we have them."

In a speech that called for sweeping changes to the U.S. educational system, President Barack Obama said Tuesday that the nation can no longer afford to have its students attend school based on an agricultural calendar.

The president also noted that U.S. students spend one month less in the classroom than do pupils in South Korea.

And he added that U.S. students are falling behind other nations academically.

But the president did not provide details on how these proposed changes could take place.

Even with the abundant farmland in Lancaster County, several local educators say the agricultural calendar does not make sense anymore.

"If you look at the history of education, we've gone through an agriculture age, an industrial age and now, we are in a technology age," Becker said. "But we still base our calendar on the agricultural age.

"And so there is no question, with the skills and the knowledge that students are supposed to have before they leave high school, that more time would be beneficial."

Eastern Lancaster County is a rural school district, but students who need to work on farms no longer represent the majority, and "to have a whole calendar based on that is probably archaic," Superintendent Robert Hollister said.

Most farms are owned by members of the Plain sects, and many of their kids attend their own schools, Hollister said. Conestoga Valley Superintendent Gerald Huesken said it's similar in his district.

Putting either of the president's proposals in motion would require a major reorganization of the school system and would be controversial, Huesken said.

"I am sure the local tourism businesses would not respond positively to (a longer year or) year-round school," Huesken said.

Hollister and Huesken said that schools already are increasing instruction time through after-school tutoring and summer programs.

The public school day in Lancaster County runs about 6.5 hours for elementary students and about seven hours for secondary students. The state requires the school year to last at least 180 days.

If the school day increased, it would leave no time for extracurricular activities, some superintendents say.

Manheim Central Superintendent Carol Saylor would lean toward a longer school day. Cocalico Superintendent Bruce Sensenig and Penn Manor Superintendent Don Stewart say both ideas have value. The longer day would not be as difficult to organize, Sensenig said.

"However, a longer year may have more overall positive impact on the actual student learning," he said.

School officials say either option would cost more. It would require extending teacher contracts and paying staff for longer periods of time.

Hannah Bartges, president of the Manheim Township School Board, said there have been discussions from time to time about increasing the school day or going to a year-round schedule.

"The practical considerations and the cost considerations just stopped the conversation," she said.

Some say, still, it's not out of the question.

Sallie Bookman, facilitator of gifted education at Penn Manor High School, said — speaking for herself, not her colleagues — she does not oppose a longer school year.

"The disengagement is too long," Bookman said.

The state's largest teachers' union also would consider the president's proposal.

"We think those ideas can be explored," said Wythe Keever, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Education Association. "We would like to have teachers have some input into that. We are not opposed to it."

Elizabethtown High School math teacher Kay Baxter said that if she had to pick, she'd go for the longer year.

In the president's speech, he said that U.S. students trail behind students in other nations. His comments also echo many published studies.

Hudacs and Becker disagree with general comparisons.

Several nations used in the comparisons do not offer free education, or at least not to all students. The U.S. offers free universal education to students — from kindergarten through high school — whether they are sick or disabled, Becker said.

Several superintendents said they like the idea of a year-round system, with 45 days in school followed by 15 days off.

"I don't think it would be problematic to have children go more days out of the school year," Donegal Superintendent Shelly Riedel said. "But I do feel that there would need to be built-in breaks" — time for teachers and students "to come up for air."


Staff writer Robyn Meadows can be reached at rmeadows@LNPnews.com or 481-6025.