After he was the only Decatur School Board member to vote against the new bell schedule for all CSD schools last month, John Ahmann wants the Board to reconsider the item in June. He recently sent a note out to parents who opposed the recently adopted bell schedule and his letter was posted on a “Concerned Parents of CSD” message board. He also questions the expense of paying DeKalb County to bus our students around as opposed to CSD lease purchasing its own buses.
Here is his letter in full…
Thank you for your email opposing the City of School’s Decatur (CSD) Bell time schedule for the 2011 – 2012 school year. At the recommendation of the Superintendent, at the May 10, 2011 the Board adopted on a 3-1 vote (1 member was absent) the following Bell schedule:
– Decatur High: 8:00 – 3:00
– Clairemont Elementary: 8:00 – 2:30
– Glennwood Elementary: 8:00 – 2:30
– Oakhurst Elementary: 8:00 – 2:30
– Winnona Park Elementary: 8:00 – 2:30
– Fifth Avenue 4/5 Academy: 8:45 – 3:45
– Renfroe Middle: 8:45 – 3:45I voted no. I sought to table this Bell schedule for a month to give time for the Superintendent to give clearer and more accurate information on many of the questions raised by myself and the community on the proposed Bell schedule and also examine an alternative Bell schedule with a later high school start time and the 4/5 starting at 8:15. No board member seconded the motion so it failed.
I remained concerned that much of the information supporting the adopted Bell schedule is inaccurate, most significantly the cost estimates and number of buses needed for a different Bell schedule. In my view, we also did not do a sufficient job engaging the community on the proposed Bell schedule changes. Further, the overwhelming number of emails I have received from high school parents favor a later high school start time. Academic research on student learning also supports a later start time for high school age teenagers. I have requested an action item for the June 14, 2011 Board meeting to adopt the following Bell schedule:
– Decatur High: 8:45 – 3:45
– Clairemont Elementary: 8:00 – 2:30
– Glennwood Elementary: 8:00 – 2:30
– Oakhurst Elementary: 8:00 – 2:30
– Winnona Park Elementary: 8:00 – 2:30
– Fifth Avenue 4/5 Academy: 8:15 – 3:15
– Renfroe Middle: 8:45 – 3:45To read my email to the Board Chair requesting the action item, click: https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D6828822_2_6560573315
The Superintendent initially estimated 4-6 buses for my proposed Bell schedule and an incremental cost of $120,000 – $150,000. This is not correct. The maximum number of additional buses (and most importantly bus drivers) is 4, perhaps less depending on the number of stops for Renfroe and DHS bus routes. Also, the cost is closer to ~$80,000. We can absorb this cost in other areas of our budget, for example, communications. Further, I voted no on the action item to continue CSD’s contract with the DeKalb County School System to provide transportation for our students to school and extracurricular activities. I also voted no on transferring title to the DeKalb County School System of a bus CSD purchased with grant funds from the State. Following the Board meeting, I did my own analysis on the cost of CSD purchasing buses and operating the fleet. I did this because CSD pays the DeKalb County School System $1.80 per mile and we also pay the incremental cost of insurance, the bus drivers, the parking lot for the buses, and the
transportation director. My analysis suggests that with a lease purchase CSD could save significant sums of money, more than enough to cover the Bell schedule I am proposing. Click here to see my spreadsheet analysis: https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D6828822_2_6560572864The Superintendent declined to investigate this option, so I have also requested an action item at our June Board meeting directing the Superintendent to do so. Click here for my email requesting the action item: https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D6828822_2_6560573481
Besides potential considering action items I have requested, we are also scheduled to consider the budget for the next fiscal year and the strategic plan. The June 14 meeting will be an important one and I hope you will consider attending.
Our community understandably takes great pride in our school system, and we have much to be grateful. We have talented, caring and hardworking teachers, principals, support and central administrative staff. We are also blessed with a highly engaged community, parents and non-parents alike. I have become concerned, though, about the level of meaningful engagement by the school administration with the community on important decisions and also the transparency of information and accuracy of the evidence provided by the school administration to support recommended decisions. I will be pushing harder for more engagement, more transparency, better evidence to support decisions, and finally more accountability by all of us on the outcomes we aspire for all of CSD’s students.
Thank you again for your email and interest.
John Ahmann
City of Decatur School Board Member
District 1, Post B
Oh crap!
Kudos to Mr. Ahmann for digging into the details, engaging with community members, and stepping up with the bus lease purchase proposal. He has not only put a better bell schedule on the table, he’s figured out how to do so while cutting costs.
I’m not sure how a BoE member could refuse to consider or vote against saving money by using a bus lease purchase agreement. The only thing it effectively changes is the cost of the buses.
We have a great school district, and we can take it to the next level through teacher, parent, and community engagement, digging into the details from many perspectives, and out of the box thinking. Why settle for good enough, when we can do better? If you agree, please stand up and make your voice count by signing the petition (http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/csd_dhs_start_time/ ). If you’re in town, vote with your feet by coming to next Tuesday the 14th’s BoE Meeting at Westchester. Public hearings on the budget will start at 5:30p. The regular meeting will start at 6:30p.
I’m hopeful that our BoE members take notice of the community support for weighing back in on this issue. Costs should no longer be an overriding factor for Mr. Wisniewski. Hopefully Mrs. Seals will welcome the opportunity to weigh in. -She was unable to make the previous BoE meeting. Perhaps Mrs. Wilson will put more faith in actual signatures of support than on anecdotes and innuendos. And I hope the fact that the DHS School Leadership Team’s had voted back in March recommending support for the same or later start time gives Mrs. Rhame a valid reason to revisit this issue as well. She had asked what the DHS SLT’s recommendation was, and unfortunately was not made aware of it.
I like Mr. Ahmann’s suggestion because I think it makes more sense logistically and developmentally. An 8:15 AM start time for 9-11 year olds obviates the “before-care” issues for working parents. At 3:15 PM, there’s plenty of free, sliding scale, and full price options for after care available for them. Plus many of them have after school activities, e.g. dance, that start at 4 PM and are hard to swing with a 3:45 PM end time. Meanwhile, high school students out at 3:00 PM seems way too early for them to start hanging around the Square, home, and who knows where else while most working parents can’t possibly get home for oversight until 4-5 PM. And what happens to all the tutoring and other activities that currently happen in the morning before the high school starts? Will the teachers be willing to switch those activities to after school?
But that’s just my one perspective and I may be outnumbered by folks who like the approved bell schedule. I’ve heard tons of great suggestions, support, and opposition for a whole bunch of different options. IMHO, the wisest approach would be for CSD to see how many families have hardships with which schedule. It should not be hard to poll. I even receive on-line polls from friends to decide what date/time a bunch of us should meet for social events. The best schedule is one that is reasonably feasible for CSD and causes hardship for the least number of families.
Meanwhile, high school students out at 3:00 PM seems way too early for them to start hanging around the Square, home, and who knows where else while most working parents can’t possibly get home for oversight until 4-5 PM.
______________________
Wow. What is wrong with these teenagers such that they need parental oversight from 4 to 5?
Were you not a teenager? If you don’t know, I can’t explain.
Yes, one unsupervised from about 3:30 to 5:30, every week day. Amazingly, I managed to occupy myself, not commit crimes — the whole 9 yards. Ditto for scores of my high school classmates.
And not ditto for scores of others. It’s the scores of others that worry me. Most parents of 13-17 year olds that I know try to be available and around as much as possible. It’s an art–giving teens lots of independence, responsibility, and privacy while being on top of what they are doing, very available to listen, help, and respond, and alert to any signs of trouble.
“I have become concerned, though, about the level of meaningful engagement by the school administration with the community on important decisions and also the transparency of information and accuracy of the evidence provided by the school administration to support recommended decisions.”
Wow … ouch. In my decade in Decatur I have very rarely seen, if any, this sort of challenge by one of our elected officials towards the Administration whether it be school board – Superintendent or city commission-City Manager. It should be noted that this is an election year and Mr. Ahman is up for re-election. I don’t have any opinion related to the school bell issue, but I must give Ahman some props for doing this.
I support John’s proposal and everything Karass said! I went to the board meeting where they voted. I don’t think enough thought was put into how much this schedule affects the younger children and their working parents.
Kudos John for having the courage to speak up and challenge the EASY option
Finally… government that is working instead of just looking pretty. Thanks John. 🙂
This bell schedule makes a lot more sense. I still don’t get why middle schoolers can’t ride with high schoolers on the bus. I’m a parent to both a middle and a high schooler. I’ve said before that if you are worried about your 6th grader being exposed to “inappropriate language or behavior” on the part of the bus riding high schoolers… definitely don’t put them on the bus with 7th and 8th graders either. 7th and 8th is just as bad and have even less common sense!
So younger kids don’t get their butts kicked on the bus anymore? Sounds like paradise.
6th graders would never know of the F word if not for occassional exposure to 7th graders, right? This reminds me of A Christmas Story, when the mom demanded that Ralphie disclose where he had heard the F word. “Now my old man used that word 20 times a day . . .”
Look, mister, I want my four year old to learn those words the old fashioned way- from the backseat of the car as mommy is yelling at that m*&^%$f^&*(r that rolled through the stop sign and nearly hit my f^&%*&^ precious babies!
But I am deeply impressed by this school board member- he’s actually put together EVIDENCE and SPREADSHEETS. Whether or not we agree with him, he deserves props.
Hmmm… that didn’t come out right. I know our admins and school board members work very hard. I didn’t meant that they aren’t working. What I meant is that when you have nothing but unanimous decisions on everything, it’s refreshing to finally see some debate and some questioning by the people that we elect to represent us.
It’s not pleasant, maybe, but it’s necessary and has been virtually nonexistent at the CSD level and the city level.
I love the Decatur Schools and even worked for them in a former life. I think it is wonderful that the issue at hand is when the school bells ring. There are children in Dekalb and elsewhere in horrible schools whose parents don’t have the time or energy to complain. The children in the school where I am an ESOL teacher come from Third World Countries,(Nepal, Burma, Thailand, Iraq and various countries in Africa) and) and make up 70% of the population of the school. ( There are 650 ESOL eligible students in the school) We have 6.5 ESOL teaching slots which means that each ESOL teacher is responsible for 100 students. The students bring in more than million dollars to the county in state and federal funds and the teachers cost the district about 450000. The district uses the rest of the money, $600,000 or so for anything it wants and refuses to hire more ESOL teachers. When I had young children I felt the same as you and spoke up for them, but just had to get on my soapbox and let you know how priviledged and lucky your children are to have parents that can speak in their behalf.
I’m not a parent (so no dog in this hunt), but this proposed schedule just seems like common sense to me. It’s balanced, it doesn’t appear to be too expensive to be feasible, and it keeps the middle & high schoolers off the streets for most of the afternoon (which even I know from articles on the subject is the time they’re prone to get into the most trouble). Seriously, how could this schedule not be given a second look?
You actually have two dogs- that cute little bugger known as TAXES and the other, less cute fella who just won’t get off your porch named COMPLAINING FRIENDS.
Heh! So true (the former more so than the latter, fortunately– the taxes are less painful)!
So the CSD budget public information session was cancelled tonight due to “lack of quorum.” What does that mean? Was it a board meeting that required three and at least three would miss it? I assume transportation budget was included on the agenda.
BTW: :Where’s the budget coverage around these parts? This is important stuff on both the City and CSD side. Can this now large DM staff rustle up some coverage of these big local political events? There are always important questions regarding each budget, especially in a time of economic crunch. What are the big budget issues this year?
No one said a darn thing on my last CSD budget post, except Nellie who wrote “Bueller?” I believe.
This budget post had no comments at all.
Also, I think you may have mistaken the contributors for “staff”.
That was my lame attempt at starting conversation. So lame only DM noticed.
Sorry for the delay dm (and Judd), hopefully more to come on the budget questions. I’m not so sure the recap draws out the underlying issues fully. Hopefully more consideration than a billeted recap. I guess we’ll see if a quorum (or even a second) agrees.
It’s just that sometimes you dig quite deeply into things and sometimes you more or less print the press release, and it’s the poli sci professor in me that’s encouraging you to promote budget issues beyond the press release level.
But seriously, what’s the deal with the “lack of quorum”? Isn’t the only other public hearing the night of the vote?
I actually looked at the budget presentation quickly (twice) last week , but wanted to give it a more thorough look over the weekend and comment on that post. After giving it two very high level reads, nothing jumped out at me as particularly troubling. Overall, I thought it OK to pretty good that they could find a way to provide raises and fund more parapros at CH.
My first thought was “Hey – this is not a good time for a millage increase, we’re still really feeling the hit from that homeowner’s tax relief grant change.”
Maybe one or two bullet points jumped out at me as something I would gripe about. But personally, I see no reason to complain about an approximately $150 increase on yearly tax bill if it allows for more staff and better compensation, though I really wish the raises could be more than 1.5%. Regardless of what the core-CPI says, I know that everyone is feeling the impact of higher food and energy prices. I just saw a half gallon of Ice Cream at a Publix for $6!
Finally – here are a couple of observations that may or may not have been noted after having looked more closely at DHS, Renfro, 5th Ave, Oak and WP, and CH
It looks like State Health Insurance is one line item that increases a lot in several schools. I don’t know how much the CSD can control that.
Another big shift is in the number and cost of parapros among the schools. Appears to be a lot of moving pieces here.
(This certainly is not even close to a thorough analysis. It would be more complete with a better sense of the historical budgets as well as some peer group or comparable districts to look at, which I haven’t done).
If anyone is still reading this – is there an actual spreadsheet file that has the full budget? Or are those screenshots in the Third Draft Doc the full list of line items for each school?
“If anyone is still reading this – is there an actual spreadsheet file that has the full budget?”
The information available publicly is pretty limited but there are some volunteer efforts under weigh that may help sharpen some of the questions. Stay tuned.
Unfortunately, I can see problems with the budget.
The budget appears to assume:
– increasing property values
– no enrollment growth
– no salary increases after 2012
– millage increases until we hit the 25 mill cap
– personnel costs taking an ever increasing % of the budget
I agree State health insurance costs are likely the reason why benefits keep out-pacing inflation. This is a problem which threatens the long term viability of the school district. It really needs to be addressed. And addressed soon.
I certainly sympathize that teachers deserve better pay. Perhaps if we can fix the benefits problem, we could actually afford to give our teachers more take home pay. However, in 2011 it looks like we’re running at a loss. The forecast is for more of the same in 2012 and 2013. And based on the assumptions I’ve already mentioned, I’m not at all sure that we’ll break even by 2014.
Understood. And I do try to at least skim these docs. (The city makes it easier than the school system). If nothing pops out at me, I might just post part of a press release or the summary page.
But as has always been the case, my time is limited, so I often rely on the efforts of the community. It’s not a perfect system, and it doesn’t catch every outrageous detail, but it does uncover quite a few items that would otherwise be missed and expose them to a large audience.
I’ll check on the quorum.
John Ahmann actually did his job and represented the families of the CSD. Way to go John!
Can anyone clearly articulate our minimum legal requirements for busing? I’ve heard “1 mile form school” thrown around a bunch, but it seems to me that would make only a small population of students eligible.
Regarding combining older and younger students on the same bus, from what my daughter tells me, riding the bus in 2011 is not much different than it was for us back in the day (think 16 candles.) – intimidation, bullying, cliques, saving seats, name calling, grouchy bus drivers. The experience is so bad that my daughter would rather ride her bike in the freezing rain than take the bus.
Too bad. One of my children had a continuously good experience on the bus for years. The other was fine with it but couldn’t get up in time. It depends a lot on the bus driver right now. Sounds like there isn’t a strong program for bus transportation but CSD doesn’t control that since it contracts with DeKalb Schools. It’s a shame because kids can spend a significant amount of time on the bus. Anti-bullying programs and messages at school can be completely negated if the bus program isn’t also on board.
I believe the drivers and managers are CSD employees.
Interesting. My kids have been riding the bus for ten years now. The only one who won’t ride anymore is my high schooler who walks 1.5 miles even in the rain–too cool for the bus now. My little ones love it. And my middle-schooler feels very comfortable. Our bus drivers are awesome and remind me of the one I had as a kid–more like a second mom/dad than a bus driver. They look out for our kids and reward or scold as necessary. I don’t have a problem with multi ages on the buses.
Also, one of the board members was absent from the last meeting, and Mr. Ahmann suggested tabling the vote until all board members could be present. I think this was a worthy action.
Editing out some of the legaleze, I found this: ” Students who live beyond one and one-half miles from the school to which they are assigned, according to the nearest practical route by school bus, shall be eligible to be counted as transported students … Any student who resides within such mileage limitation shall not be eligible to be counted for school transportation state-aid purposes, with the exception of disabled students being transported.”
This seems to apply only to state funding, so far as I can tell, but a one-mile rule would seem to be more generous than the state’s rule. That said, it looks like as of next year all K-3 students will live within one mile of their school, so we could potentially cut down on a lot of the busing if that rule were enforced. Could all these bus scheduling woes be solved with a little enforcement?
Interesting…
So it is possible that we could legally halt the bus program altogether for K-3 with the exception of special needs children.
Essentially, yes. It would save over 400k.
Buses are a convenience. Which are very convenient indeed for working families without flexible work schedules. But there is at least a $700K price tag per year on this convenience. With personnel costs and benefits rising faster than inflation and taking an ever increasing portion of the General Fund budget… Something is going to have to give.
It would be useful to know where we provide busing services because it is mandated. And where it is not.
I drew a circle with a radius of 1.5 miles centered on DHS using http://onemap.decaturga.com/
I looks like there is no state mandate for buses for DHS or RMS. Which means we probably receive no state funding for busing non-ESS students to those schools. At the K-3’s, the students who are unable to attend their neighborhood schools may be eligible for state mandated transportation in some cases.
The only school where busing would appear to be mandated is 5th Avenue. And at that only about 1/3 of Decatur would qualify.
Perhaps it is time to think outside the box and consider:
– walking and biking school bus “drivers”
– pay as you go bus service
We are being transferred to Winnona Park Elementary from Oakhurst Elementary for next year. We did not have bus service to Oakhurst b/c we were .9 miles from the school. We are much closer to Winnona (only .6 miles) and have bus service. I know of no one in our neighborhood who plans to use the bus to get to school.
We are in the neighborhood that seems to get flipflopped back and forth between Oakhrust and Winonna depending on who needs what type of students. The walk to Winnona is much shorter and safer (even across Candler) than the walk to Oakhurst. I can’t for the life of me figure out why we have bus service for a half mile walk when we did not have service for a .9 mile walk.
Candler is a little dicey, but there is a crossing guard there, and it’s certainly no more dangerous than walking along College Avenue for a mile.
I got the following note regarding a petition in support of changing the bell times, which I signed and you may too if you agree with it.
————————-
An iPetition has been started regarding Decatur bell schedules
Posted by: “jhotchkiss1987” [email protected] jhotchkiss1987
Date: Mon Jun 6, 2011 5:30 pm ((PDT))
Please visit http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/csd_dhs_start_time/ and show your support for an 8:45a DHS start time, open transparent processes, and authentic community engagement. Encourage our Board of Education members to do likewise and to support the following bell schedule:
* Clairemont Elementary: 8:00 – 2:30
* Glennwood Elementary: 8:00 – 2:30
* Oakhurst Elementary: 8:00 – 2:30
* Winnona Park Elementary: 8:00 – 2:30
* Fifth Avenue 4/5 Academy: 8:15 – 3:15
* Renfroe Middle: 8:45 – 3:45
* Decatur High: 8:45 – 3:45
As you can read in a previous posting, a City Schools of Decatur Board of Education Member plans to ask for the addition of 2 action items to next Tuesday June 14th’s Board Meeting:
* 8:45a start time for DHS
* lease purchase agreement for buses that would more than pay for the proposed DHS start time
There are a number of reasons why it is worth signing this petition and asking our Board Members to visit this issue at the June 14th BoE meeting:
1) This about the process and community engagement. The BoE previously asked for data, options, and community opinion. The data they received was flawed. Only one option was given at the last BoE meeting. The community opinion was not sought and failed to be passed to the BoE when it was given.
2)The June 14th BoE meeting is about overall budget. The data on budgetary impact of bell schedules given at the previous BoE meeting was flawed. Balancing costs and trade-offs in the context of the overall budget allows the BoE perform its responsibilities and function better.
3) BoE members have repeatedly asked where students, parents, and community members stand on the bell schedule. In the absence of any survey by the administration, this petition may serve as a weather gauge for community engagement on this issue and the overall issue of open transparent processes and authentic community engagement. A notable failure in communication occurred, at the previous BoE meeting, when a board member asked if the DHS School Leadership Team had an opinion on the bell schedule, and the administration was unwilling or unable to share that the DHS SLT had in fact made a recommendation against earlier start times and for the same or later start times.
Please visit http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/csd_dhs_start_time/ and show your support. Please pass this link along and ask others to do likewise.
Also consider coming to the 6:30PM June 14th BoE meeting at Westchester to show your support at this meeting focused on the budget and a probable millage rate increase. Continue to write your BoE members (email addresses are listed in the email below). Show our BoE members that the community is engaged and has the long attention span.
“That said, it looks like as of next year all K-3 students will live within one mile of their school …”
Maybe not so when kindergarten classes are full at Oakhurst and additional students are being assigned to Winnona Park. Here’s the previous thread.
http://www.decaturmetro.com/2011/05/31/kindergarten-overflow-in-some-decatur-schools-raises-some-concerns/
Well, its hard to plan anything if people can’t meet simple deadlines. I’m sure there was a lesson learned here – no pain, no gain 😉
If you read Caleb’ posting, you will see that his family had reasons for registering when they did. In a public school, there aren’t really “deadlines” for registration.
With public schools there are no guarantees that you get everything you want either though.
Actually, there’s no guarantees with private school either and a lot less legal and political recourse. But a whole lot more respect and customer friendliness!
I think the bell schedule is fine the way it currently is. I may be in the minority, I don’t know. Changing the bell schedule in June, when school is out and families on vacation will mean many families would not be aware of the change in a timely manner. From talking to other parents of 5th Ave students, many are in favor of the 8:45 start time. We have been told kids can arrive as early as 8:00, and maybe earlier. The 8:45 start time is good for families who want to bike to school after dropping off younger siblings. It is also a good start time for bus riders. Some families, mine included, will not require after school child care with an 8:45 dismissal time.
My high school let out at 1:50 and we managed to stay off the streets. It meant there was plenty of time in the afternoon for clubs/sports etc, after school jobs, and homework.
Correction: some families will not require after school child care with an 3:45 dismissal time.
It would be helpful if CSD would provide an official confirmation of how early parents can drop off their children for an 8:45 start time. In the past, school staff have not wanted children in the school too early because that’s a staffing issue. How early parents can responsibly drop off children is a factor in acceptance of the start time. Can the cafeteria handle non-low income children eating breakfast there if they pay full price? That could work out nicely for parents who have to get on to work so they get home at a decent hour–have the children arrive early and eat breakfast. The middle school and high school students whose parents leave the home early often eat breakfast at Chick Fil A but I don’t think dropping 9-11 year olds off at Kavarna’s is kosher.
Larkspur, chime back in when you have to be at work at 8:00 or when you have high schoolers.
Not to gang up, but I would be interested in hearing Larkspur’s response to your comment. It’s great to be able to bike with each of your kids to school every morning (in a perfect world this is the best scenario obviously) but is this a majority of Decatur families who are shuttling multiple children to multiple schools? I don’t know, but probably not.
Having the start time earlier for the oldest and most able to handle responsibility, really seems like it would be a pretty huge disadvantage for families with 2 parents that work and need a little extra help getting the little ones sorted out, and helping them get where they need to be on time, in the already very busy and chaotic mornings.
We have 4 kids at 3 CSD schools next year. Our plan is that our DHS student will walk. I’ll walk and ride with our K-3 kids to Clairemont dropping them off by 7:45a.
Google maps tells me I can bike from Clairemont to 5th Avenue in 21 minutes. But I really need to find the “Safe Routes” path and ride it a couple times. If the 5th Ave start time shifts to 8:15a this may be cutting it close. My fallback plan is to drive down to the East Lake Marta Station and bike with my 5th grader from there.
After I’m confident that my 5th grader is capable and confident… I may try to work out a bike-pooling arrangement with other parents so that I won’t need to ride all the way every day.
For the past 3 years, my two older kids biked to Glennwood almost everyday. We live near Renfroe, so this entailed crossing the tracks, navigating the scary Dairy Queen-Trinity Street-Candler crossing, etc. The distance was 2.5 miles roundtrip per day (as a rough estimate, my son rode over 500 miles in two years).
This was possible for two reasons:
1. One parent (David Brim) had a vision for a biketrain. Because he worked in Decatur, he was able to ride in the mornings and afternoons. A few other parents joined when work schedules allowed. At it’s peak, we probably had 15 kids riding together. Believe me, 15 kids will gather attention from cars! The neat thing was, after a while, several splinter biketrains started with 3-5 kids each (some without parent chaperones – blasphemy!).
2. The City, through Safe Routes to Schools, stepped up to the plate by providing lots of crossing guards. They even added one at the before-mentioned Dairy Queen crossing (God forbid someone commuting to Decatur would have to wait 15 seconds for kids to cross the street) and one at the Ice House-Commerce crossing after parent requests.
Not to mention the healthy benefits of riding to school, and 9-11 year olds getting a small sense of independence that they crave. Things should be even better next year at 5th Ave. with less commuters in the Oakhurst area (of course there will be an increase in parents driving, but that’s another topic). Let’s not focus on how life was when we were kids, but instead imagine how we can impact our kids’ lives and then make it happen. (I will now step off my soapbox).
+1
+1
+1
Can I do that? JUST DID!
Well, I’m not sure about most of you, but I have to be at work by 8 a.m. I don’t know if my 5th Ave kid will be picked up from the bus stop by the time I have to leave my house. The wide spread between 8 for the K-3 and 8:45 for the 4/5 is problematic, in my opinion, since these are the kids who need parental supervision or transportation to get to school. The older kids can get themselves to school.
It seems that stepping the start times sequentially makes the most sense, since you’re more likely to have kids at K-3 and 4/5 in the same years, or RMS and DHS in the same years–unless you’re like me and have one at each for many years!
I will not be biking with my kids to school. I go to work before they get up in the morning and my spouse has morning duty. He will not be biking either as he has to get the kids off and go to work. I will have a child in a k-3, 5th ave, and Renfroe this coming school year. Frankly, if all the schools started earlier it would benefit my family. My spouse was excited when there were proposed starting times before 8:00 as he thought he might be able to get to work earlier.
Since the rest of Decatur didn’t want that, I think we have an okay compromise.
since I go to work so early, I can work 8 hours and be home before my middle schooler and 5th avenue students are.
I would be in a bind if the bell schedule suddenly changed and I needed after school care for my middle child. I know other families who would be in a similar bind.
I would love to be at work at 8:00. — my current 7:15 is killing me. I will have a high schooler in 2 years.
To th earlier post about teens after school. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa. Research states that most teen issues, and yes, we do have those in the very privileged Dec,occur between 3 and 6:00. Yeah, my parents aren’t home so……
But shouldn’t those “teen issues” be considered part of growing up? I think they are–at least, that’s how I remember them. I feel a revisit to the Free-range children debate here, DM.
My mom traveled a lot, so I had a keg in the bathtub for half my senior year and I survived and often flourish.
Agreed, but I have even better stories and I also survived, and sort of grew up.
We need to have a tell your best story thread…. And what is posted in the thread stays in the thread
Definitely, but we better use pseudonyms.
Or just not post the things that were really illegal…
I have no idea what you’re talking about.
Exactly.
Um, these stories are NOT making me feel better about leaving teens alone between 3 and 6 PM!!!
But the point is that Naaman and Nellie–and I, and a whole lot of other people–survived and have even been known to thrive, despite having gotten up to some things in our misspent youth that we are even now reluctant to talk about in the wide open. ;-).
There’s a point at which you can’t have eyes on ’em every second, and have to trust they’ll make reasonable choices when it counts because that’s how you’ve brought them up. In any case, that’s a parent issue, not a CSD issue. So IMO, chaperoning teens in the afternoon should be WAY down the priority list of factors affecting the bell schedule. Those who are going to get into mischief will find a time and a place, regardless of how tightly they’re monitored and regimented. (Let’s say we went whole-hog for the “more sleep” philosophy and ran the school day at Renfroe and DHS from 11:00am – 5:45pm. I guarantee you the witching hour for “teen issues” would become 8-11am.)
Bingo. I remember this one snow day in ninth grade….
From what I heard, Renfroe teens have been spotted having a quick smoke before school behind the church on Adams Street. We should probably admit that no bell schedule can stop a motivated teenager from getting into mischief .
I’m just glad nobody plays chicken with the Train…
You know, I once would have believed you about the witching hour moving to 8-11 AM if school started at 11 AM. But I now believe that teens would sleep through Armageddon itself if it occurred in the morning.
Ok, us parents can’t win. We are bombarded with warnings from the schools, our pediatricians, parenting experts, public health officials, and the legal community about the research showing that unsupervised teens at home have an increased risk of illicit drug use, sexual activity, smoking, binge drinking, depression, suicidal behavior, poor academic performance, and discipline issues compared to those with parents usually at home. I’ve seen the results of a binge drinking survey in which teens reported that the usual site of binge drinking is the home of a friend whose parents are gone. Tom Morgan’s lectures and book on teens and Georgia law have hair-raising examples of good kids who made a bad mistake in a single moment and did not immediately get help from a parent or lawyer, and now are suffering the consequences forever on their record. Some of the examples involve (unnamed) Decatur kids!
I’m not saying that we can observe teens 24 hours a day or that the bell schedule should be totally driven by the potential for teens to do something stupid with unsupervised free time. But all other things being equal, I’d rather have a teen unsupervised in the morning when they are likely to be sleeping and studies don’t show a lot of risky behavior, than in the afternoon which has been shown to be a period of risk. Maybe half of our teens on anyone afternoon are at sports or a club or other activity right after school but that means the other half is not.
+1
Let us go with Mr. Ahmann’s $80,000 per year increase in spending as correct. Then let’s say he is correct in asserting that there wasn’t enough engagement of the community by the Board. So, can someone explain how cutting from the communication budget will improve future community engagement? It won’t. Instead there will simply be another item in the budget (transportation) that will go up. This will put more strain on the financial resources.
I’m just guessing, but with BoE member responsibilities being mostly confined to budget and policy, the call to cut communications spending may be sending the message that we haven’t gotten much of a return on investment from where that money has been going. Perhaps the solution isn’t throwing more money at the problem?
Put another way… What would happen if the BoE removed the communications budget entirely. And then put it back a month later? I imagine there would be layoffs. And then the board would be asked to approve new hires.
But perhaps I’m reading too much into this?
IMHO, a Communications position is not needed if want is mostly needed is a change in attitude towards communicating with parents and the community, changing the default to we’ll share information as long as it won’t violate confidentiality, privacy, or legality.
But some things take resources and staff time–surveys, website info, email blasts, open forums, meetings with the City etc.
I am glad John Ahman has requested that the bell schedule be brought back onto the agenda. I have rising 3rd and 5th graders and am very unhappy about the decision that was made.
I second everything Mr. Ahman brought up in his email (as reported by Decatur Metro) in making that request. Please consider scenarios where this late start time will encourage the creation of 4th or 5th grade latchkey children. He or she could now be responsible for getting themselves to school without oversight of the single parent in the household who had to go to work at 7:30 – 8:00. The DFACS guidelines say, based on maturity, a child between the ages of 9 – 12 can be left home alone for brief periods of time. Surely this isn’t what the board intended. Which children will start to slip through the cracks? This can also be the case for two-parent families with multiple kids, depending on their schedules. Or, perhaps the parent will put the kid on the bus, which might not have been necessary without this drastic change. And isn’t that what we’re trying to discourage?
Abruptly changing the start time for my fifth grader’s school by almost an hour is a major scheduling change. Bus transportation is not the only concern to be addressed in regards to this topic.
I am also very upset by the way this was handled and the process for informing affected parents. I did not learn about this until the week after school reading Glennwood’s last newsletter. However the board handles publicizing important decisions, this proposed action should have been backed up by notifying affected parents. I see that high school parents were sent a letter about that proposed change. Was this done for rising fourth and fifth graders, who seem to have the most drastic change?
Why wasn’t this action tabled for further consideration? Why the rush to vote? Why doesn’t the CSD website list this as a hot topic?
The bicycle plan I had developed for my kids next year will not work, since the start times are so different. Guess I better check those bus routes…
I hope the school board will put this back on the agenda and give the decision the time and thoughtful consideration it deserves, before households are turned upside down with a rapid and dramatic schedule change.