Decatur Parents Have Until Friday to Take “School Start Time” Survey
Decatur Metro | December 6, 2011From the CSD Connections email sent out yesterday…
Do you have an opinion about when the school day should begin? The School Start Time Advisory Committee commissioned by Dr. Edwards has launched a survey for all CSD families. Please log into the Parent Portal and click on inbox to find the survey.
If you do not know your Parent Portal ID and password, you may show identification in person at your child’s school in order to obtain your Parent Portal login information.
The survey closes December 9. The survey takes less than 5 minutes to complete.
CSD Parents: Be sure and take this survey! The School Start Time Advisory Committee is actively seeking your input. No survey, no complaining!
I gave up on taking the survey since I was required to answer all “ideal start” questions with a single answer and there was “NA” choice. I don’t have an opinion on the ideal starting time for the other schools, so I’d rather not negate concerned parents’ answers with a random answer. I’ll retain the right to complain :), but, as it stands, I’m content with the 4/5 start time, except that it is impossible to get my girl to her 3:45 afterschool activity on time.
Send an email with your thoughts to Dr. Edwards and I’m sure she can forward it to the committee. I’m sure that the committee will want input however they get it.
I am somewhat disturbed that this is the first I have heard of this survey. I have two children in the schools and get emails and handout frequently, but not on this survey. The short window, and the requirement to log into the parent portal imply to me that they don’t want responses. That is just my impression.
I almost missed this myself. The survey was actually mentioned, though, in the December CSD Connections (Issue #3) emailed out yesterday. I think to get on the list one has to subscribe to the ‘eBlast Newsletter’ – a link to which can be found on the top right corner of CSD’s main page. I suspect the need to take the survey itsefl via the parent portal is to help prevent folks from stuffing the proverbial ballot box.
PS: Just got word that tomorrow’s Walk & Roll to School has been cancelled due to the weather.
Phoenix Biking’s points mirror mine. I read this in my kid’s newsletter this morning. If a parent doesn’t have internet access, they are shut out. If you don’t read the newsletter before Dec. 9, you are shut out. If you aren’t already using the parent portal, you must go to the school’s office and show ID before the 9th or you cannot participate. And if you have to be at work at 8 or earlier, this is going to be hard to do. It’s almost as if comments are desired from households that are affluent and not under stress anyway.
What is the best way for a parent who will have a child in the school system next year to give feedback?
Email Dr. Edwards, the superintendent, at and ask her if you can have an electronic, non-web-based copy of the survey. It seems like a reasonable request.
Re just hearing about this: I believe that I heard about this about a week ago but I cannot remember how or why. If several parents email either their principal and/or Dr. Edwards, I’ll be the deadline could be extended. Probably whoever is the lead in Central Office for this committee and survey did not realize that it’s taken so long to get the word out.
Make that “bet”, not “be”
Comments are starting to take on that CSD Dark Overlord Out to Get Us tone again. Before they go too far, could someone in the know clarify? I was under the impression this survey was being orchestrated by a Bell Times Committee of parents and staff recently assembled and tasked with re-examining the issue.
If that’s the case, maybe it’s just your neighbors that are out to get you.
I’m sorry there is confusion about this survey!!
The committee is working on Middle and High School start times only, and the survey was meant to reach the Middle and High School communities. That may be why some parents did not receive notice about it. Questions 5 and 6 (ideal start time for ES and 4/5) were meant to be optional, but the software is requiring they be checked. This data will not be used by the committee. Because there was a change in start times this year (a half hour earlier for DHS and 15 minutes later for RMS) this committee will review feedback on those times. We are also surveying teachers and students at these grade levels.
If you cannot access the portal, or get to it later than the 9th or would prefer to send an email, feel free to email and I will share the comments with the committee. As a committee, we discussed our desire to reach a broad spectrum of the middle and high school communities. However you wish to provide feedback is welcome.
Thanks, and again, the elementary school time preferences will not be used by our committee.
Many thanks for taking the time to provide feedback.
P.S. I checked and will be able to filter so I see only HS and MS responses to this survey. Thanks.
I apologize, everyone. The Start/End Times committee intended for the survey to be answered by RMS and DHS families. I read about it in the RMS and DHS eBlasts from last week and included it in yesterday’s CSD Connections. I’m very sorry for the miscommunication and the short notice. I’ll see what we can do about extending the deadline. The Start/End Times committee will be able to filter results by those with children at RMS and DHS. If you’d like to discuss further, you may contact me at . Thanks!
The survey has been available for a couple weeks now via the parent portal. Want to say I took it during thanksgiving break when logging in to check lunch account balances.
Yes, there should have been more publicity, but it is most definitely not a “gotcha” moment like some may be leaning towards. And in my experience, to address the non-Internet concerns, CSD goes above and beyond behind the scenes to make certain to reach out to their disadvantaged students.
[...] Decatur Parents Have Until Friday to Take “School Start Time” Survey (but apparently meant for RMS and DHS only) [...]
I heard about the survey in a couple of different ways, although I agree the window is pretty short. I appreciate that they are trying to do it electronically to allow for easier tabulating and ensuring that there aren’t double votes etc. That said, I’d like to hear more about how to make sure there is the option to include those without easy access to parent portal.
The survey was ok, a few…hmmm not sure this question really makes sense. But I found ample space for comments and think they’ll get a directional feel for what FACTORS should be considered in assessing bell times. To me is a much more important information than what time do you like.
If they only get information about what times are preferred but not based on what drivers they’ll never be able to make trade-offs or update in the future.
So whether you like the survey or not I would take the opportunity to expound on what you think should drive start times.
For me:
No school starts before 8am
The k-3 and the 4/5 are thought about together (with start and end times not unreasonable close or unreasonably far apart)
Driven by academics vs sports
Driven by the (profound) scientific research on adolescent sleep cycles
Teacher opinion
Trying not to be snarky BUT I think the surveys that come out from the Calendar Committee feel very awkward, are difficult for me to answer in a way that reflects my reality and do nothing to gather from folks what factors influence how they view the calendar. Certainly that committee may have a different mandate and a different objective with the survey but I hope if there is an interest in really evaluating the calendar they do more with that survey.
So no harm done. The worst that may have happened is that some folks learned how to use Parent Portal, which you gotta learn eventually anyway to monitor the progress of students once they hit Renfroe! Even for the younger students, Parent Portal is useful as an archive of their MAP and CRCT testing results.
+1 yes, parents need to learn to use the parent portal.
Not a fan of the statement that only MS and HS parents’ opinions will be heard. The ES kids are headed for RMS and DHS and their parents’ voices are also important. Did I read that wrong?
Good point. It would be nice if 4/5 Parents could be included since 1/2 of them will have a child in Renfroe next year and the other 1/2 will one there in a year and a half.
We just meant we are interested in how the change in times from last year to this have worked out for families. The charge of the committee is to make a recommendation about HS and MS start times, so as a starting point, we are surveying the two communities.
Thanks.
Ms. McKain – please remember that the 4/5 students went through a huge time change this year. Dismissal last year for 3rd graders was 2:40 (is that correct?) and dismissal for that same class this year (the current 4th graders) is now 3:45.
I am VERY displeased with the bell schedule at the 4/5 Academy and I did fill out the survey. I am hopefull that I did not waste my time and that the committee will hear and consider my points.
I second that. The 4/5 academy starts and releases way too late. Only Renfroe and DHS should start and end so late. Move the 4/5 back to the 8-3 schedule and move DHS up to 3:45. It’s also nutty to have Renfroe and DHS on different schedules. In my opinion, they should share buses and have start times that are maybe 5 minutes or so apart to accommodate the buses getting from one school to the next.
If anything, the middle schoolers would corrupt the high schoolers if they shared buses! I’ve had personal experience with both, and the middle schoolers are much more “off the chain” from what I’ve seen. I think it would do them good to see how more mature students act…. not saying that high schoolers are perfect, however.
+1. If “corruption” of MS students on the buses is a concern, hire a second adult to supervise on the bus. I find it hard to imagine that would be less efficient than running half empty buses all over town – TWICE.
I third this. The randomness of the 4/5 schedule this year totally exploded our family’s longstanding and carefully developed arrangement of work, before and after school child care, and after school activities. It’s been frustrating to realize that bus scheduling and the early start of the high school drove this.
One more thing… for all the sixth grade parents that are afraid that high schoolers will corrupt your 11-year-olds on the bus. I have news for you from personal experience. The 8th graders already have the corruption thing covered and are probably doing a more effective job of it b/c they are much more interested in “interacting with” your 6th grader than the high schoolers are.
In fact, there are probably other 6th graders that are doing a pretty good job in the corruption department too.
I haven’t heard concerns about mixing middle schoolers and high schoolers on the same buses. I completely agree that that other middle schoolers are the greater risk, not the high schoolers. In fact, some of the high schoolers have babysat the 11 year olds so are probably a civilizing force!
Meant to add that where I have more trouble with mixing is 4/5ers and middle school. There’s a big difference between and 9 year old and an 8th grader at the height of adolescence. (Mixing 4/5 with 6/8 would not be a disaster, of course, but not preferable.)
Should these comments be directed to Ms. McKain? I get the feeling from her comments that she’s on the committee and, thus, on the receiving end of the charge they’ve been handed. It doesn’t seem like they could honor these requests, even if they wanted to.
Can anyone clarify? Is “Heather Borowski in CSD” the more appropriate recipient for input outside the scope of the committee?
Now, Scott, don’t go depriving Ms. McKain of what many of us know is one of the primary joys of volunteering in the community: getting a target painted on your back! If she plays this right, people will be contacting her at random for YEARS to come when they have a complaint or criticism about the bell schedule.
+1 Scapegoat.
STG – You are right that the 4/5 comments should not be directed to Ms. McKain, But I don’t think that she is a volunteer. If I have the name right.
Count me in as as fourth or fifth that the 4/5 vs. Renfroe/DHS schedules are back-asswards. I believe that FAVE starts too late and the goes too long.
DM Readers,
We very much want to hear from you and hope you’ll consider using to share your questions, comments or concerns on this topic or any others. We can channel your message to the appropriate staff member for a phone call or reply email. Or you are certainly welcome to email or call us directly.
Thank you CSD community!
Heather Borowski
404-370-3848 ext. 17
Heather, can you please explore why the heck the elementary schools and the preK get out AT THE SAME TIME? That’s probably the most ridiculous outcome for the the whole bell schedule issue – I know of parents who are twisting themselves into pretzels trying to pick up preK-ers and first graders, etc AT THE SAME TIME.
Yup, and then residents complain about the speeding minivans.
(I am not condoning speeding minivans but suggesting that school schedules have an impact beyond just when the students file in and file out.)
I was pleased to see that CSD was offering a Bell Schedule survey for all City Schools of Decatur families. If I recall correctly, a survey of parents was either promised by CSD ? or recommended by the calender committee, when CSD adopted the new calender. That may have happened, but if so I missed it.
Maybe this is all just a happy accident. It sounds like there are plenty of K -5 families who would be happy to have the same survey opportunity afforded the RMS and Decatur HS parents.
Everyone get your portal passwords!
oops! substitute bell schedule for calender committee…..was there a bell committee? It’s hard to keep track.
Hi CSD,
May families of all CSD children participate in your Bell Schedule survey? Each decision affects another…..
I hope parents are allowed to complete the survey this week and next. It would be a shame to have the survey available to all during the “last week before school gets out” shuffle.
Please let us know asap. I think you have many willing participants.
Thanks.
It seems impossible to say that only the RMS and DHS start times are under consideration. Perhaps they are the only ones under evaluation right now but seems like the 4/5 at least would need to be understood. Seems like if we shift RMS/DHS then we might need to shift the 4/5 for the management of buses, as we heard at the beginning of the year, all are related no?
I did not know the PreK and K-3 situation above.
Let it be said that understanding the relationship of the schools that have children who require supervision is paramount! PreK, K-3 and 4/5 should work together should they not?
Agree re the inter-relatedness of the school schedules. The high cost of buses means that we need efficient transportation scheduling which entails staggered school start times. One school’s schedule affects the whole system. Also agree that supervision must be considered for the K-5 kids. Not even the most dedicated parent who has eschewed all other obligations in life can walk and roll two children at the same time to two different schools. Luckily, RMS and DHS students can transport themselves (although I still urge them to travel in pairs or groups or ride the bus.) But that ability to transport themselves becomes a liability if they have too much time on their hands after school. So what makes the most sense to me is staggered start times with the youngest starting the earliest at 8:00 AM and the oldest starting the latest. And that happens to fit with most children’s sleep patterns, with younger kids naturally getting up earlier than teenagers with their developmental sleep disorder.
Since mine was one of two comments before the suggestion of paranoia was brought into the mix (in order to dismiss my points) – CSD Dark Overlord Out to Get Us tone – l will comment one more time.
At the last school board meeting where the bell times were discussed, the Board and Superintedent agreed that their communications with the public needed to be improved. I do not see improved communication.
Everyone should have been honest about how and why this new schedule was established from the beginning. It was barely stated. I understood at the VERY END of that meeting, that the bell schedule was set solely by the Superintendent and then approved by the Board, and that there was no room for flexibilty. Why allow people to participate when their comments mean nothing? So I was happy people were being polled this year, but the method itself poses problems. Then I realized that it doesn’t affect the age group I am concerned about.
Let’s be clear from the get go if our voices even count, if the school board gets to vote instead of approve, or if this will be a solely administrative decision. I have a minority perspective about how difficult the change is for parents with kids in K-5 and even for FACULTY whose kids go to a school where they don’t teach. I mean, imagine if you are a single parent with two or more kids who has to commute and be at work from 7:30 to 8:30 and your school doesn’t open until 8. I even know two parent families in this boat. This means kids in 4/5, ranging from 8 – 12 years old can potentially be left to fend for themselves and get themselves to school. If DFACs and the IRS say 12 years is the age when children don’t require supervision, why does our school system not follow these long suggested guidelines? Have you been at F.AVE at 7:59? I have seen groups which vary from 5 – 20 students waiting for the school to open.
I don’t think the neighbors are “out to get ME,” but when other parents say, “I don’t care that the start time is later, it doesn’t affect me,” they might want to look around and see who it DOES affect.
Somebody did make the blithe comment, what’s 15 minutes? What difference does it make? How about the CSD faculty and staff take that position for a week, and we see if anybody cares that they are late.
And why must no schools start before 8? I don’t know what was broken with the start times last year, but I do not believe anything has been fixed.
Your points about scheduling are all perfectly reasonable, Honeybee, and let it be clear that my previous comment had nothing to do with dismissing them. It wasn’t even replying to you directly. It had to do with the fact that both you and PhoenixBiking had suggested the possibility that the poor communication around this survey was intentionally orchestrated to limit participation. That’s a fairly aggressive assertion.
If you think putting decision makers on the defensive as your first level of engagement is a successful path to results, have at it. I just happen to disagree. All I said was, before we suggest we’re being intentionally misled, deceived or avoided, we should find out *who* is orchestrating the survey, *why* they’re doing so, and to what end.
I agree that communication around this issue has been poor. I just happen to think clarification beats assumption if we want to get anywhere. That’s the only way to move beyond the victim stance and begin a meaningful examination of the issues, as you’ve done with this new post.
The large group of kids standing outside of FAVE at 8 AM every morning breaks my heart too. Thank you so much to the parent volunteers who support the Study Buddy program every morning so that some of them can choose to work quietly or get help with schoolwork for the 45 minutes between when they are allowed to walk into the school and when it starts at 8:45 AM.
It’s also true that we have a disconnect between parenting and official government recommendations that children be supervised until age 12 and what is really happening. Is it appropriate for 11 year olds to be walking home from Renfroe alone? I don’t know but it’s happening and there’s pressure on parents to approve it.
Dear Families,
We hope you are having an exciting pre-holiday season. Our schools are balancing a focus on learning and the eagerness your children feel!
Several systemwide committees have been working at my request:
Engagement
Enrollment Trends
Start and End Time for RMS and DHS
Transportation Options
Members include parents, students, and CSD employees. Each of these committees are creating recommendations that will be presented to the Board after the new year.
The Start and End Time for RMS and DHS committee has requested the community to offer their perceptions through an online survey. Although this committee is focusing on start and end times for RMS and DHS only, the survey has been launched to all CSD families. We have heard that families would like more time, so the survey has been extended to December 16, 2011. If you need Parent Portal access to reach the survey, please go to your child’s school in person to acquire your login information. Once you reach Parent Portal, select “Inbox” to find the survey.
This committee will continue to focus only on start and end times for RMS and DHS. However, all the data collected through this survey will be used by the Transportation Committee, as well as myself and school leaders, as decisions are made regarding 2012-2013 start and end times for all schools.
Sincerely,
Dr. Phyllis Edwards
As per today’s Clairemont Bulldog:
CSD Committees
“The CSD School Start Time Committee has launched a survey for all CSD parents. Please log into the Parent Portal and click on Inbox to find the Survey. Families may show identification in person at their child’s school in order to obtain Parent Portal login. Survey closes December 9th.”
I’m with the crowd that thinks that RMS and DHS should have the same (relatively late) school hours. Also, K-5 should have the earliest school hours. K-5 and 6-12 should ride the same buses.
K-3 8-2:30 (bus drops K-3 kids then same bus goes to 4/5 – K-5 ride the same bus just like they do in the vast majority of school district in this country)
FAVE: 8:15 to 3:00 (seven hours is too long)
RMS 8:30 to 3:30 (drop off 6-8 then head that same bus over to DHS to drop off high school kids)
Of course, we would have these problems if we were in a K-5 configuration, but I digress.
DHS: 8:45 to 3:45