Granite District students could be in school 10 minutes longer each day next year to give the district some "wiggle room" in meeting the state's 990-hour minimum standard.

But a final decision on extending the school day was delayed Tuesday night to allow for more discussion with teachers and others who would be affected.The issue was tabled for two weeks after heated discussion in which several issues were raised. Several of the board members were distressed, to begin with, that they had not been prepared in advance of the regular board meeting for the proposal.

Board member Lynn Davidson was concerned that the board was being asked to OK a longer school day without having discussed it first with teachers.

"(If this passes) we're going to have a morale problem tomorrow morning with 3,000 teachers," he said.

Board member Dean Knight agreed the decision could "throw a monkey wrench into negotiations," which are currently under way for the 1994-95 school year.

Carol Cremer, Granite UniServe director for the Utah Education Association, told the board that teachers could, in fact, be unhappy with a longer workday and no prospects of being paid for the time. An additional 10 minutes per day (and shortening lunch hours by a half minute) would increase the school year by almost 30 hours.

"At a time when we already are underfunded and teacher morale is low, to increase our time with no compensation would be a blow to teachers," she said. Teachers already are getting additional responsibilities as schools engage in more site-based decisionmaking, she said.

Davidson also objected strenuously to lengthening the day in secondary schools to offset the time consumed in the airing of Channel 1 newscasts. The 12-minute TV program includes 10 minutes of news and two of advertising. An attorney general's opinion, backed by the State Office of Education, says the Channel 1 time cannot be included in a district's calculations of a 990-hour year.

Earlier in Tuesday's meeting, the board had heard the report on a district survey of students, parents, administrators and teachers that indicated very high support for the Channel 1 programs. Schools would lose valuable equipment supplied by Whittle Communications if the programs were dropped. The district must notify Whittle soon if the programming is to be canceled.

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Davidson said he believes the attorney general's office overstepped its bounds and acted contrary to the concept of local control in making the ruling. The decision flies in the face of Gov. Mike Leavitt's push to get technology in the schools, he said.

The board agreed, and voted to try to influence other districts who want to retain Channel 1 to join with them in trying to force a reversal of the decision.

However, staff members noted that the additional school time is needed not just to compensate for the television program but to give schools a buffer in meeting the 990-hour requirement. Emergencies, inservice time and individual school needs call for some flexibility, they said.

During the two weeks until the board's next meeting, discussions will be held with those who would be affected by the decision. School times and bus schedules will not be announced until a final determination is made.

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