Photo Credit: lars hammar
Historically, Scottsdale schools have started at different times, requiring bus drivers to complete three runs, morning and afternoon, one each for elementary, middle, and high schools. Effective next fall, that will change. Middle and high schools will start earlier and at the same time. Elementary schools will start later and all at the same time. District officials project that this change will save the district half a million dollars annually.
The announcement letter reads:
Governing Board Approves a 2-Bell Schedule – Update
Saves SUSD $500,000At the April 13th Scottsdale Unified School District (SUSD) Governing Board meeting, the Board voted to approve a 2-Bell Schedule which will save SUSD $500,000 annually. “We assembled a task force to study the use of time. They examined research, realities and the factors of teaching and learning. Tonight we recommend to you what we believe is best for students in our school district,” said Superintendent Dr. Gary T. Catalani.
The start times for the 2010-11 school year are 7:45 a.m. for high school, 7:45 a.m. for middle school and 8:45 a.m. for elementary school. The start time for the three K-8 schools is still being determined; the time will either be 7:45 a.m. or 8:45 a.m. Desert Mountain High School and Mountainside Middle School will start at slightly different times to accommodate the shared parking lot at the schools. The exact times will be announced shortly.The only school not affected by the 2-Bell Schedule is Sierra Vista Academy because students attend school four days a week, and SUSD does not provide transportation for these students.
“While this recommendation is driven by the impact it will have on teaching and learning, it will also save the District $500,000. During these very hard financial times, we cannot ignore this savings,” said Superintendent Dr. Gary T. Catalani. The $500,000 savings is from the elimination of 16 buses and the costs associated to operate and maintain these buses. In addition, there will be more bus routes. Middle school and high school students will ride separate buses.
A 2-Bell Schedule will help streamline and increase the ability for collaboration District-wide among all staffing levels. With all elementary and all secondary schools on similar schedules, there is an increased ability for staff members from various locations to work together to improve all aspects of education in SUSD. The 2-Bell Schedule change will also help reduce attendance concerns for high school students who are involved in school-based activities, including athletics and performing and fine arts.
The 2-Bell Schedule change will take effect on August 9. In addition, SUSD’s Community Schools department will continue to offer before and after school programs at its current sites and will incorporate morning and afterschool program at the remaining elementary sites and all middle schools. The before school programs will run from 6:30-8:45 a.m., and the afterschool programs will run until 6 p.m. The fee for the before school program will be $60 a month. The after school fee will vary by number of days and dismissal time. Nobody will be turned away for financial reasons. For more information about before and after school programs, please contact Karen Hearn, director of Community Schools, at 480-484-8614.
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If you have concerns about the new 2 Bell Schedule email govboard@susd.org and request that they reconsider the new bell schedule at the next board meeting on May 4th.
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2 BELL SCHEDULE – TRANSPORTATION SAVINGS PROPOSAL
APPROVED BY THE SUSD BOARD APRIL 13th, 2010
SUSD Information and Things to Consider About the
New 2 Bell Schedule
CURRENT BELL SCHEDULE
5 High Schools 8:15-2:50
6 Middle Schools 8:55-3:25
10 Elementary Schools and 2 K-8 Schools 7:45-2:15
6 Elementary Schools and 1 K-8 School 8:15-2:45
NEW 2 BELL SCHEDULE (effective 8/09/2010)
High Schools and Middle Schools 7:45-2:15
Elementary Schools 8:45-3:15
K-8 Schools- bell schedule has not been decided
2 BELL SCHEDULE THE BOARD COULD CONSIDER
High Schools and Middle Schools 8:45-3:15
Elementary Schools 7:45-2:15
Sierra Vista Academy will not be affected by the new 2 Bell Schedule because students only attend school four days a week and SUSD does not provide bus transportation for these students.
Scottsdale Unified School District currently has about 27,000 K-12 students enrolled.
Approximately 15 years ago SUSD changed to its current bell schedule. Medical research about natural sleep patterns proved the multiple start times were in the best academic interest of each age group. Current and former staff members who taught at that time quickly remember principals, staff members and parents supporting the change based on the sleep study research. At the SUSD Board meeting on April 13th none of the board members knew why SUSD changed to its current start times.
Last year the SUSD Board considered a 2 Bell Schedule with ES starting at 7:45 and HS/MS starting at 8:45. This idea was turned down because parents complained that HS athletes would miss more class time. Many MS and ES parents were unaware of this last year because it would not have dramatically changed their current start times.
TRANSPORTATION SAVINGS
• 16 buses will be eliminated
• The $500,000 savings comes from the costs associated to operate and maintain the eliminated 16 buses.
• SUSD says the transportation savings will be $500,000 or 10 teaching positions, but do we know that 10 teaching positions will actually be saved? Can they document these positions for us?
• HS and MS will not ride the same buses.
• No current bus stops or routes will change.
• There will be more bus routes.
• Most HS and MS bus routes will have twice as many stops- example: 2 current bus routes will combine to make 1 route.
• 11 MS and HS bus routes will be 1 hour long. These students will be picked up by the bus at 6:40 am or earlier.
• ES buses will pick up more stops.
• Logically it seems easier to eliminate 16 buses from a varied bell schedule than a 2 bell schedule by rerouting the buses and making changes to the current bus stops, but the District cannot do that otherwise they will lose some of their transportation funding from the State. The State pays for school districts’ transportation based on how many miles the buses drive.
SLEEP PATTERNS
• Medical sleep studies show that during adolescents the body’s circadian rhythm (an internal biological clock) changes. The change seems to be a result of the brain hormone melatonin (a hormone that has been linked to a body’s sleep function) working later at night for adolescents than in children and adults. This makes it difficult or impossible for many HS and MS students to fall asleep early (before 11pm).
• Lack of sleep can lead to school tardiness, sleeping in class, mental lapses, lack of focus, conflict with parents and teachers, poor self esteem, stress, anger, sadness and greater risk of accidents.
• Some memory formation takes place during sleep.
• Lack of sleep may also physically affect adolescent growth. Growth hormones are released during sleep but it is not known if less sleep disrupts hormonal patterns.
• ES age children are for the most part naturally early to bed, early to rise. Parents also have more control over when their ES child goes to sleep.
• ES students are recommended to have 9 ½ – 10 ½ hours of sleep per night.
• HS and MS students are recommended to have 8 ½ – 9 ½ hours of sleep per night.
• With the new HS and MS bell schedule 7:45-2:15, HS and MS students will need to be asleep by 9pm to get the required recommended sleep.
• Some HS athletic teams practice until 9pm, this makes it impossible for them to be asleep by 9pm.
• Some MS students participate in non-school related athletics and activities after school that do not end until 8pm or later. Are they realistically expected to rush home and be asleep by 9pm so they can get the required sleep they need and be ready to learn at school by 7:45am?
• It is proven that students who get more sleep do better in school. It is also proven that students do better in school with smaller class sizes, yet class sizes continue to grow. Is it in the best academic interest of HS and MS students to increase their class sizes and reduce their sleep?
http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/sleep-topics/school-start-time-and-sleep
http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/hot-topics/backgrounder-later-school-start-times
http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_body/take_care/how_much_sleep.html
HIGH SCHOOLS
Current bell schedule- 8:15-2:50
New bell schedule effective 8/9/2010- 7:45-2:15 (HS will start 30 minutes earlier and be done 35 minutes earlier than current schedule)
Bell schedule to consider- 8:45-3:15 (HS would start 30 minutes later and be done 25 minutes later than current schedule)
• High school students can responsibly be left unattended in the morning to get ready for school, lock up the house and get to the bus stop or school on time.
• About 1/2 of all HS students miss some school throughout the year for school related activities- athletics, band, cheer, academics, fine arts, clubs, etc.
• Half of all HS students may seem like a large amount of students but this makes up for only about 1/6 or 16% of the K-12 student population.
• 14,894 instructional hours are lost throughout the school year because of athletics.
• Instructional hours lost due to athletics:
Arcadia- 2334
Coronado- 1529
Chaparral- 4108
Desert Mountain- 3642
Saguaro- 3281
• Example: Chaparral HS has 615 students participating in athletics and 4108 instructional hours are lost throughout the school year because of athletics. This averages to only 6.68 hours or a little more than 1 day of school per student.
• Is it fair to dramatically change the SUSD bell schedules for 16% of the student population who choose to be involved in extra activities and miss an average of 1 day of school?
• Some people have asked the district if the athletic games and meets can be scheduled later in the day so student athletes do not miss school. SUSD reports they have no control over the scheduling and that the AIA (Arizona Interscholastic Association) makes the athletic schedules. AIA says the Athletic Directors do have involvement. Dr. Catalani (SUSD Superintendent) will participate in “The Committee of Twelve” May 2010 where he can make requests/suggestions regarding moving back the times of competitions. Will he do it? There are several invitational competitions that athletes compete in District Wide. These competitions are optional, and not AIA regulated. The HS Principals and HS Athletic Directors, along with the athlete’s parent make the decision. This can pull a student from instructional time for up to a full day. Some coaches pull their athletes out of class for game preparation an hour before departure from school.
• Saguaro currently offers a baseball training class 7th hour to reduce the academic classes the players miss when they need to travel for games. Chaparral is beginning the same class Fall 2010. Similar classes are also offered for some other sports.
• Marching Band, Color Guard and Cheer are required to take 0 hour for practice Fall semester because the football team uses the football field after school.
• When the new HS 7:45-2:15 bell schedule starts, 0 hour will begin at 6:45 a.m.
• Zero hour would begin at 7:45 if the HS bell schedule was 8:45-3:15.
• More students would likely be interested in 0 hour classes if they started at 7:45 compared to 6:45.
• If the HS bell schedule is 8:45-3:15, more 0 Hour classes can be made available for students who want or need to end their school day early
• Zero hour classes should not be required of students who regularly miss class but something students and parents can choose if they think it is in the best interest of their child’s academics.
• A 7th hour study hall can also be made available to students whose classes are done 6th hour and want or need to stay on campus until 3:15.
• Bus service is not available for 0 hour classes but many HS students do not use buses for transportation to and from school. Also, if the student is involved in extra activities and leaving class early on a regular basis, then they are already not depending on bus transportation to and from school every day.
• SUSD currently has a task force working on the development of SUSD ONLINE for K-12. The Online Learning Task Force is scheduled to make a presentation to the Board November 2010. The presentation will include a 3-year action plan and initial online courses to begin Spring 2011.
• Online courses can be another option for HS students who need to leave school early on a regular basis.
MIDDLE SCHOOLS
Current bell schedule- 8:55-3:25
New bell schedule effective 8/9/2010- 7:45-2:15 (MS will start and end 1 hour 10 minutes earlier than current schedule)
Bell schedule to consider- 8:45-3:15 (MS would start and end 10 minutes earlier than current bell schedule)
• Middle school students will have the biggest time change and disadvantage with the new bell schedule.
• Most MS age children can responsibly be left unattended in the morning to get ready for school, lock up the house and get to the bus stop by themselves.
• What will MS students do after school when the bell rings at 2:15?
• With an earlier release time more students will be going home to a house without supervision.
• The after-school hours are the peak time for juvenile crime and risky behaviors such as drug and alcohol use. The longer they are home alone the more likely they will take risks. This is not only a concern for MS students but also for HS students.
• The District says they will have after-school MS programs but it is unclear what type of programs will be offered. It is also unclear if they will be fee based or free.
• Is the District hoping to create revenue by starting MS earlier and offering more after-school fee based programs?
• If the programs are free, how much will they cost the District?
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Current bell schedule-
10 schools 7:45-2:15
6 schools 8:15-2:45
New bell schedule- 8:45-3:15 (10 schools will start and end 1 hour later, 6 schools will start and end 30 minutes later)
Bell schedule to consider- 7:45-2:15 (there would be no change for 10 schools, 6 schools will start and end 30 minutes earlier)
• Elementary school age children cannot be responsibly left unattended in the morning to get ready for school, lock up the house and get to the bus stop by themselves.
• The later start time will increase how many students require child care before school.
• The District promises all ES will have before school care available from 6:30am-8:45am and that no students will be turned away.
• The district also reports no family will be turned away for financial reasons.
• Is the District hoping to create revenue by providing before school care? Or will they lose money by offering financial aid to all families that cannot afford the before school care?
• How many ES children will be left home alone in the morning because their family cannot afford the $60/ month and they do not qualify or want to ask for financial aid?
SUSD Mission Statement: “Provide exceptional education opportunities for all.”
Will the new 2 Bell Schedule provide exceptional education opportunities for all?
The SUSD website has a list of “Things to Consider About the 2 Bell Schedule”. There are nine factors that support the 2 Bell Schedule and three factors that do not, all factors are in regards to HS students. Three out of the nine supporting factors benefit high school athletes and athletic teams.
Did the Board think about all of the students on April 13th when they voted 4-1 and approved the new 2 Bell Schedule?
The next SUSD Board meeting is May 4th. If you have questions or concerns about the new 2 Bell Schedule or would like the Board to reconsider the new 2 Bell Schedule contact SUSD-
govboard@susd.org
2bellschedule@susd.org
gcatalani@susd.org
480-484-6223
480-484-6100
SUSD Education Center
3811 N. 44th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85018