The Georgia Department of Education addresses flexible scheduling in rule IFBD 160-4-4-01 which states:
“A Georgia school library media program must include a plan for flexibly scheduled media center access for students and teachers in groups or as individuals simultaneously throughout each instructional day. Accessibility shall refer to the facility, the staff, and the resources and shall be based on instructional need. Flexible scheduling is maintained by allowing full participation of teachers and the library media specialist in collaborative planning and allowing students to come to the library media center at any time.”
The Clayton County Board of Education addresses flexible scheduling in Administrative Regulation IFBC-R(1) under the heading “Operational Procedures.” This Administrative Regulation states:
“In order to make resources available at the point and time of need, each media center should use flexible scheduling. Each school media center should be open and available for teachers and students throughout each instructional day of the school year. The media center should also be accessible to support any approved course before or after the regular instructional time.”
The information below was originally posted on the Georgia Department of Education website to clarify their policy:
Posted: January 7, 2010
“The Library Media Center (LMC) should always be open and accessible. The Georgia Department of Education policy 160-4-4-.01 clearly states that the LMC is flexibly scheduled throughout each instructional day.
The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) policy concerning Flexible Scheduling is taken very seriously and assigning classes to the Media Center is a violation of GaDOE policy. Some systems/schools have a fixed/flex schedule with preschool, Kindergarten and first grade students, but that scenario would be a local/school decision. Every Library Media Specialist (LMS) is also required to have an active school level Library Media/Technology Committee.
Collaboration and flexible scheduling are needed for a quality and effective K-12 media center instructional program. One cannot exist without the other. The library media program shall be a collaborative effort between the classroom teacher and the library media specialist in order to help our students achieve.
It is essential that flexible scheduling work in partnership with collaboration. Administrators, classroom teachers, and media specialists should realize that flexible scheduling is much more difficult and time consuming than a fixed schedule. Flexible scheduling is not having a sign up sheet available and allowing teachers to sign up for the media center. The necessary planning for successful instruction with the classroom teacher and co-teaching the students are time consuming.
The LMS must have a working knowledge of the Georgia Performance Standards for every grade and curriculum area. Those standards are our standards.
According to the GaDOE School Improvement Division that while it is true that teachers meeting and planning together is helpful, it is not the place or duty of the library media specialist to provide that planning time. The classroom teacher and the library media specialist should be working together for the students and the media specialist should be a part of the planning time with the teacher.
A library media specialist serving as a “special”, in a rotation, or teaching students without the classroom teacher present is not in compliance with GaDOE regulations. GaDOE policy also states that collaborative planning by the media specialist and the teacher should be an essential part of the media program.
Again, the Library Media Center should always be open and accessible. This is a GaDOE policy and if classes are assigned to the media center it is not possible to be open to all students, staff, and faculty. The GMSEI (Georgia Media Specialist Evaluation Instrument) states on page 38 that “during instructional activities in the media center for an entire class, the classroom teacher should remain with the class.”
GaDOE realizes that classroom teachers work extremely hard, but the media program is not the vehicle for planning time. It should be a collaborative teaching experience that requires the expertise of both the classroom teacher and the library media specialist.
An effective Library Media Specialist is an educator, information specialist, instructional partner, and program administrator. Library Media Specialists are part of a team within the school building that can make a difference in student’s lives and help those students achieve and succeed.”
Supporting Resource:
American Association of School Librarians Position Statement on School Library Scheduling