"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
They want to save money on busing by combining middle school and high school kids on the same buses, and moving middle school to 7:10 to 2:25!
I already think school starts too early. I feel like this is just way too much. If I have to leave before 7 AM to get my kid to school, Even if we are driving, I think that’s ridiculous.
I would think the bus would have to come by about 6:20 AM. I also just don’t like the idea of middle and high schoolers on the same bus.
MS is 9:30-4:15, and it's mostly great. It allows high school to start at 8:30 (vs 7:30), and we were able to expand elementary hours by 30 minutes. Our bus drivers are district employees on district owned buses and the bulk of them run all three levels of school- so school hours are extremely complicated. I was a little concerned when they originally switched our hours around, but I love it now that I have middle schoolers.
Our middle school starts at 7:45 and our elementary is 8:40, I wish they’d switch them! Younger kids get up earlier and older kids can wait for the bus for a few minutes after their parents go to work whereas the younger kids need before care. It makes no sense to me the way it is.
Everything we know about adolescent sleep patterns and requirements should be screaming that this would be a bad decision for the well-being of the children involved. I think that's a good place to start conversations with your SB members and administration, with clean facts.
I can tell you that our schedule change was a massive process. It involved multiple committees full of teachers, parents, non-teacher school employees, community members and high school government representatives. We had surveys, board meeting after board meeting- and in the end, as you can expect, not everyone was happy. But I do think they ultimately did the best they could do for the children and families in the district. Elementary starts at 7:50 (gates open at 7:20). One of the reasons we couldn't push that earlier was simply because bus stops and streets are very dark before 7 during some parts of the year- a major safety concern, not just for the little ones.
They just quietly did this at a committee meeting, and next it goes to the school board. Most people were not aware at all that this was discussed. I just heard through a friend and watched the recording tonight.
I am totally aware of the science, and as a night owl myself, I totally think these start times should be changed. At the meeting, someone briefly references the studies showing that kids do better with later start times, but they completely dismissed that option because they didn’t feel it was workable with after school athletics.
They just quietly did this at a committee meeting, and next it goes to the school board. Most people were not aware at all that this was discussed. I just heard through a friend and watched the recording tonight.
I am totally aware of the science, and as a night owl myself, I totally think these start times should be changed. At the meeting, someone briefly references the studies showing that kids do better with later start times, but they completely dismissed that option because they didn’t feel it was workable with after school athletics.
I strongly suggest gathering some of those cooler headed people to speak at the meeting where this will be on the agenda, but contacting your SB members now is a good idea (encourage others to, as well). What was the committee formed to do? If they were a general cost cutting idea session, it can help to brainstorm some solutions yourself- have something to bring to the table.
Middle school is 8-2:45. High school starts earlier and Elementary starts at 9am.
Pre-pandemic they were going to switch elementary and high school so high school started later and elementary earlier but that switch got out in the back burner as the board had pandemic to deal with. I think in the fall a switch might be made. Middle school would remain the same.
Post by whattheheck on Apr 20, 2021 5:02:10 GMT -5
Our district administration places way too much of an emphasis on sports to ever start MS/HS later. Gotta have time after school for practice and games!
Wow 7:10 is super early! I also wouldn't want my junior high kid sharing a bus with a high schooler. I am surprised they even have enough room to do that. In normal times our buses are packed with 3 kids per seat.
Our school days are very long.
Elementary: 8-3:30 Junior high: 8:46-4:17 High school: 7:15-2:46
So high school is our super early years. Not looking forward to it! There have been talks of switching the elementary and high school day which makes sense but it will never happen because of sports and also so many high schoolers have after school jobs.
Ours is 7:30-1:15 this year bc they don't have lunch there thanks to covid. (My kid is gone 6:45-1:50. That's a long ass time without lunch, but that's another story)
Post by expectantsteelerfan on Apr 20, 2021 6:50:35 GMT -5
My district does HS first, then elementary, then 1st middle, then 2nd middle. HS homeroom starts at 7:40, Elementary 8:10, 1st middle 8:40, not sure about 2nd middle. HS is done at 2:20, elementary at 2:45, 1st middle 3:15. (1st middle is 5th and 6th, 2nd is 7th and 8th). It has worked out well for us to have elementary earlier than middle, but high school is going to be rough. There have been talks of changing hs to later, but the issues that always come up with that is if they start later, after school sports/meets would be affected and athletes would miss more class than they already do, and older kids are often in charge of younger siblings and need to arrive home first to help with child care.
I would not be o.k. with a 7:10 start either. I'd start spreading the word and getting people involved in this. The more the SB hears from the community, the better.
DSs school is 8:15 - 2:45. He gets on his bus at 7:45. While he grumbles about getting up at 6:45, it's reasonable. A 7:10 start means a bus at 6:40 which means waking up no later than 6.
They swapped schedules about 2 years ago (elementary used to be 8:30 and MS/HS used to be 7:50) I don't know for sure because we still just have elementary school kids, but I think MS/HS kids ride the same bus as the 2 buildings are connected and they have the same hours.