Anonymous wrote:
"New topic: Brashear students now have to catch buses 15 minutes earlier. This is on top of the 25 minutes earlier instituted with the closing of the Liberty bridge. School start time has not changed, it is still 25 minutes earlier than before the closure of the Liberty bridge. Students, who already felt that the original starting time was too early, now have to be at their bus stops a full 40 minutes earlier than before the closing of the bridge. They will arrive at school with an extra 15 minutes to . . . do what? Does this really seem like a decision based on academic benefit?"
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7 comments:
Was any explanation given? Hopefully we are past the expectation of unquestioning obedience that began with MR. Is the earlier bus time an attempt for buses to beat bridge traffic, and is it only in place until the bridge opens?
Studies have shown that the best start time for adolescents is somewhere between 8:30 and 9 AM. That's the best time for their internal clocks. Even most adults start at that time. It's a 9 to 5 workday.
But an 8:30 or 9 AM school start time would put a burden on PAT buses. And it would upset school employees who want to get out early. So, as usual, what's best for the students takes a back seat to everything else.
Could this be the beginning of a plan to keep students separated? We have heard in the past few weeks of violence in the downtown area. The district uses more PAT busses than before. Many students go into town to transfer out to their school. I don't feel this has anything to do with upset employees as 4:09 suggests. It is not new that students from different areas don't mix well. Dale Frederick was clueless on this subject. John Thompson couldn't understand it and Mark Roosevelt thought it was just a silly notion.
Keeping some groups apart may be the only way to insure they get there safely. If the district did nothing, we will complain when one of our kids gets hurt. Or worse! My prediction is we will see more time changes for our kids. And yes, some employees will gripe. And by the way, it is not only teachers who are affected by the changes. When kids start 20 minutes early, everybody starts 20 minutes early.
One reason for the earlier start times was so that the buses can be reused for other students- elementary etc. Since we are now relying on PAT buses again, this might change after the bridge.
The whole "keeping students apart" is an issue-- but, remember that when students minds and on SCHOOL (magnet programs) they really arent concerned about neighborhood rivalries. Students and families made a special effort so they could attend a magnet of some sort. We want them safe-- but we cannot run the entire district based of thug life. For a hundred years, students have traveled around this district to get the education, subjects.etc that they need to transition into the work place. Quite soon, they will be working with all kinds of people- from various neighborhoods. Yes, they have always transferred downtown. Yes, they often need two buses to get off their mountain and get to the other mountain for specialized training.
Two buses mean up early, or home late if they want to participate in the best that this district offers.
It seems more complicated than students needing to spend more time traveling if they want to attend a special program. Start times across the board are really early, and now arrival for Brashear (which is a mostly non-magnet school) are even earlier.
Since early start times a most problematic for teens, maybe elementary schools need to be the ones on the early schedule.
Anon 12:03 Brashear is 1 of the schools with the most magnet choices ,From auto body,computer science to the steam programs and a lot more .There are students who travel there all the way from home wood,winkinsburg ,the north side and many other places .There are close to 1400 students there and about 300 travel to the down town on there way there and home and don't complain .The ones that are complaining are the ones who ride the yellow bus and the parents need to adjust there schedules to there child's .
Do yellow school buses travel on the re-opened Liberty Bridge? I hear that there is a weight limit. Wondering?
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