An Atlantic man was appointed this week to a task force which will study whether Iowa’s public schools should lengthen the school day and make other changes to their calendars. Frank Spillers, with Global Horizons in Atlantic, was named as one of the 16 individuals appointed by Iowa Department of Education Director Jason Glass, Tuesday, to the Instructional Time Task Force, which was created by lawmakers as part of their education reform law.

The committee will study whether the minimum length of the school day and year should be extended for some students or all students and whether schools should have a uniform start date. The group will also consider whether summer break should be shortened, with days off spread out throughout the year. Glass says time in school should be applied differently to students based on their individual needs, but that adding time should be carefully studied because of its expense.