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

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.”

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

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.

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.

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.

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?