District spokesman Tom Vance says the new elementary class schedule will run from 8:30 to 3:47 beginning January 4th. High school students will be in class from 7:43 to 2:47. Even with the longer school day, Vance admits it may be a challenge for Portage teachers to cover all of their material in a shorter school year.
Portage schools will have longer school day, shorter year
Many students in the Portage Public Schools will be in class a few minutes more each day beginning next month. The district is adding ten minutes to the day for elementary students and nine for those in high school. That will allow the district to end the school year four days earlier than planned. Doing that will help the Portage Schools save $2.5-million to offset big cuts in state funding.