Changing the start of the school day

[Angela]

Okay, I am totally against changing the time of school. If you have a child that works or is in any after school activity this is really going to mess this up. Our kids do not get into bed till very late as it is. I do not see how in the world this will save money. My preference would be to go to a 4 day week. That is truly the only way to save money!

[no privacy]

Why are we discussing bell times? Have we even looked at what it would cost KCS to purchase their own busses. HOw long would it take to get return in profit on return of purchases? How about the insurance, what is it costing KCS to provide insurance on a Lease bus with drivers who aren't employeed by KCS, don't you think that cost would be higher? How much is my child insured for on a sub contracted bus?
I'm trying to figure out a way to cut cost and save our teachers, save the art programs, and save from rearranging many families lives. I would rather see our tax dollars going toward busses, the taking away from those who will be dramatically effected by this. LOOK to the future not the now.

[Ginevra]

Some places, for example, New York City, provide students with monthly bus passes.

Simplifies things considerably, although they also have a massive public transit system to link into.

It would be interesting to have some parent group work on the KAT bus system and figure out if these could be used on some routes, especially for high schoolers.

Although the New Yorkers I knew accompanied their very young children (or sent an older student along to supervise), many 5th graders traveled in pairs (for safety and reassurance) and had considerable autonomy to go to dance lessons, music lessons, and religious after school programs.

[no privacy]

That makes no sense. KCS could hire quality driver, provide better Accountability by training their own drivers and setting higher standards. This could also provide many people with employment opportunities.

[Bob Hunter]

I agree we need to go earlier not later. This stuff about older kids sleep cycles is another case of what I call "coddling". My daughter, who is an honors student gets up whenever she has to for early classes, student government meetings, etc. And from the business standpoint I can tell you it continues on - I have great difficulty finding "younger" employees who can show up to work on time (8:30). If the kids learn more now about dealing with the "real" world it will help them later. And how about the disadvantage some of the kids will face in the job markets if times are changed at some schools and not others - a good example would be jobs at Turkey Creek. Kids from Farragut, Hardin Valley and Karns would all be in areas that would seek jobs there but if the kids at Farragut are on the early schedule that gives them a very distinct advantage on getting a job over the kids at HVA or Karns because they can come in an hour or more earlier. And considering all the complaints people already express over Farragut getting favortism now this would just add fuel to the fire. If a change is made then it needs to be across the board. From what I can tell we have one of the later start times my wife and I could find around the nation. I think what we need is someone from outside the "system" to take a serious look at the budget and tell us the areas that need to be cut. When we lived in Middle TN I questionned why the county we were in there did not drop their federal funding and thereby not be bound by the Fed requirements. Everyone there said we couldn't afford to so I decided to check it. I requested a copy of the budget (took me 3 requests to get it even though it is public record and accessible for anyone) and started through it. I determined that if we dropped federal funding and then cut the unnecessary expenses it required that we actually ended up better off from teh budget standpoint. When I presented this to our school board member he wouldn't even look at the numbers. This is a member of the same school board where 5 of 6 members voted to sign a contract and hold the taxpayers of the county liable for it even though they admitted that they had not read it! I think a lot of decisions are made based on what board members are told not what they have verified. It is time we start verifying more and using common sense to make decisions. What sounds good today can become a nightmare tomorrow if not thought through. If we start having the contractors make more runs do you not think they are going to re-negotiate contracts at a higher rate in the future? Will the short term budget game become a long term budget loss?

[Cathy McCaughan]

Whichever direction they move the clock, it needs to apply equally to ALL Knox County public high schools.

[no privacy]

Well I do agree with you there. I mean come on....if this is the RIGHT thing to do then do it for all, if in doubt, don't try to fix something that isn't broken! Parents should have the right to ask for a transfer, or can they already? I mean we really don't want to look back and say, well there was another BAD IDEA and we really can't afford it!

[Angela]

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!

[Mom Knox]

Makes sense, but it would probably add additional daycare costs. Several churches provide after school care. They have employees come in the afternoon to care for these children. By having them in the morning and in the afternoon, they would also be providing transportation to and from school.

[no privacy]

There are churchs here that provide free daycare after school with transportation?
Which ones? I'm new to Knoxville, and didn't realize that. I was thinking you had to pay for anytype of after school care? Silly me! Ya learn something everyday.
Anyway you look at it, it's going to add additional daycare cost, unless what you say is true, churches provide FREE daycare. What happens to all the families with teenager's who babysit? Now they won't be able to and parents will have to find another form of daycare. Now I got to find out which churches are free?

[Mom Knox]

The churches I am referring to are not free. I'm in the north end of Knox County - Halls.

[Darlene Hunter]

I spoke to my daughter this morning about this subject. I encouraged her and all her friends to contact their school board members to them know how they feel.
My daughter is currently on the SGA and in HOSA. They meet before school now so they are already getting there early. Karen Carson asked me if having some classes begin at 7:50 would help. The answer is no because this is the same thing as the current 7:30 AM classes. My daughter can not attend before school classes and stay a member of SGA or HOSA. However, if the start of school were changed to 7:30, then those clubs could meet after school, and those are sports teams could still attend practises that currently begin at 3:30. If she goes to school from 9:30-4:30, she loses the ability to work after school. Getting out at 4:30 means getting home at 4:50-only because she drives. This leaves no time to get dinner, do a little homework, change and get to work at five. She doesn't work for frivolity, she works to save for college.

Right now the bus that runs for HVA gets to our neighborhood between 4:15-4:20. If school goes to 4:30-the earliest those teens will get home is 5:15, however with construction about to begin at both ends of our road(Campbell Station and Lovell) we all know it will be later than that. Add to that the fact that around 5:00 it already becomes difficult to travel those roads, what will happen when busses start getting added to the mix?

Last night my daughter had dinner with a friend that is on the track team for HVA. They had a meet last week that wasn't over until around 10:15, or maybe that was the time she got home, after coming straight home. How much later will it be if they start later?

I am sorry, but if we must change the times of school to save money, please change it so the students go 7:30-2:30 and make it for all high schools, not just half.

[K]

Amen, situations like these were exactly what I was talking about in my original post. I think it should be a system wide change as well, not just a few of the schools. I have too encouraged my daughter to tell her friends to use their text messaging ability to send emails to the board representatives and superintendent expressing their opinions.