The Lawrence Public School district has made a significant investment in TIME as a resource to advance the achievement of learning and assist educators with the hours needed for planning and professional learning. These efforts are non-negotiable and they include the mandate that added a minimum of 200 additional hours of expanded student learning time for most schools serving grades K-8. Many schools have launched a much more aggressive commitment to ELT with a schedule of more than 300 hours above pre-ELT schedules (prior to 2013-14)
Specific to district strategies to support ELT, principals have been assigned authority over decision making and budgets with a directive that anticipates aggressive plans to close not only the achievement gap, but the equally important opportunity gap that exists for so many Lawrence Public School students. Through the design of effective and monitored strategies for ELT and through the increased opportunities for interested schools to provide additional hours of targeted support after school, thousands of students are served for up to 10 hours each day in the Lawrence Public Schools. With an earlier August school opening and increasing opportunities for weekend, school vacation, and summer offerings, schools are working to close gaps during nearly every week of all 12 calendar months.
