By Dave Dyer

Staff Writer

Maine Sen. Peter Mills introduced a bill Monday proposing to increase the number of days in the school year and the amount of exercise for high school students.

Mills said Maine’s 175 school days are short compared the national average of 180 days per year. As a nation, he said the United States is far behind in the number of school days compared to South Korea, which he said has 220 days per school year, or Japan, which has 243 days.

Mills said he has also received complaints from teachers who say they lose classroom time with students due to school assemblies and rallies. He said adding 10 days to the current school year, would make up for class time lost by assemblies and testing for Maine Learning Results.

“I just wanted a chance to say ‘We’re not doing enough for the school year,’” he said.

Mills said the five-core learning subjects – English, math, social studies, science and vocational classes – have taken time away from physical education classes. He said he is not happy with the current high school requirement of one semester of physical education for high school students (there are 16 semesters in a typical four year high school).

“I don’t understand where they can make you to do one semester [of physical education] and be sedentary the rest of your life,” Mills said.

Mills said Carrabec High School in North Anson was recently allocated exercise equipment for a voluntary 5:30 a.m. exercise program. 

Carrabec High School Principal Ken Coville said the program, named “Will Power,” began five years ago, starting with 15 students as a school exercise and study group program. He said the program is broken up into separate days, so one group can work out in the gym, while the other group has a study hall with a faculty member serving as a tutor. Coville said the group now has 50 members, or one-fifth of the school’s population attend every morning.

Coville said the group works as a team and are responsible for each other and showing up for the program. He said if someone does not show up, they have to explain to the rest of the group why they missed the previous workout.

Coville said equipment for the program came from grants from the Mitchell Foundation and the Gates Foundation and students have helped in constructing weight racks and laying down the hardwood and rubber flooring for the weight room.

Coville said three members of the Will Power group have competed in the National Junior Power Lifting Championships. He said members of the group have also had a half-point average increase in their grade point average.

For physical education classes, Coville said since he became principal of Carrabec High School five years ago, the school has tripled the required amount of semesters for students to attend gym classes. 

Scarborough Assistant Superintendent Andrew Dolloff said the school district has a wellness committee to set nutrition and physical fitness standards for Scarborough schools. He said the wellness committee spent time on technical aspects of food – such as grams of fat, served in concession stands during athletic events and made nutrition recommendations to the school board, which were approved.

According to Wellness Policy Regulations, students will receive physical education at every grade from kindergarten through eighth grade, along with two semesters at the high school, with five 60-minute physical education classes per seven-day rotation for the two semesters. Guidelines were also set for cafeteria staff, including at least five fruits and vegetables offered per week during lunch and restrictions on what kind of snacks, such as chips, soda and ice cream, are offered in serving size.

Dolloff said the amount of physical activity varies from kindergarten through the high school, as elementary school students routinely have gym classes throughout the week. He said kindergarten through second grade classes are also part of the “Walk Across America” program, which requires students to log the number of miles they walk around the school until they reach the length it takes to walk across the country (3,000 miles).

At the middle school level, Dolloff said students take part in gym class for half the school year. He said students also get physical activity each hour by switching classes and walking the hallways of the schools. 

Dolloff said students could take more gym classes if they choose to, but two semesters are required.

“It’s tough to measure how much time each student gets physical activity each day,” Dolloff said.

Dolloff said if Mills was looking into adding more gym classes, it would involve hiring more physical education instructors. 

MSAD 71 (Kennebunk and Kennebunkport) Superintendent Patrick Manuel said the high school requires one year of gym classes and echoed Dolloff’s words that more staff will be required if more gym class were to be offered. He said at the middle school level, the district has one physical education teacher because a position was cut a year ago.

Both Dolloff and Manuel said their school districts couldn’t add more instructor positions with their current budgets.

“That would be pretty far down the list of priorities,” Dolloff said.

Manuel said because of the number of days in the school year, a balance is needed between core classes and physical education, art and computer classes.

Gorham Superintendent Ted Sharpe said a study to add more days to the Gorham school calendar three years ago showed it would cost $65,000 for every extra day. Sharpe estimated it would cost between $75,000 to $80,000 per day now for additional days.

Sharpe said he wouldn’t oppose extra school days, but said he doesn’t think the current calendar is a problem.

“I don’t think [the school year] is a major issue,” Sharpe said. “I think it’s the quality of the program that matters.”

Mills said if the bill passes, estimated costs would be between about $100 million dollars in state and local taxes.