Bell Times for 2012-2013
Interim Superintendent Susan Enfield sent out an email today with a link to the school bell times for next year.
Here is her message:
Dear Seattle Public Schools families,
Today I am announcing bell times for the 2012-13 school year. After hearing feedback from staff and families, we worked hard to keep the majority of next year’s start times consistent with what is in place this year.
However, there are six schools – View Ridge, Wedgwood, Bryant, McGilvra, North Beach and Adams – that will see their bell times moved as much as 30 minutes later for next year.
These new bell times are a result of changes to transportation for the 2012-13 school year. The School Board voted to move forward with a transportation plan that includes longer yellow bus ride times (up to 45-minute rides) but has minimal impact on bell times. We needed to implement new start times at these six schools to continue our three-tiered bus plan (where staggered start times are required so that one bus can make three trips between schools). This change will save the District between $300,000 and $500,000, allowing us to keep further budget cuts away from the classroom.
We know changing bell times is not ideal. We also know that many members of our community would like us to consider later high school start times and earlier elementary start times. This has major ramifications for high school students, including after-school jobs and athletics, as well as before- and after-school child care for elementary school families.
We are committed to thoroughly studying these ideas, but we ask for your patience as it will require considerable time and public involvement. The District will work with families, staff and our current transportation task force to tackling these long-term issues, with recommendations expected for the 2014-15 school year.
The full list of bell times can be found online at http://bit.ly/12-13-Bell-Times. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
SusanSusan Enfield, Ed.D.Interim SuperintendentSeattle Public Schools
Comments
BTW can someone explain to me why some schools start at 9:25 and others at 9:30 but both type of schools end at 3:35 (like Lowell and Loyal Heights)?
Bell struck
And just so you know - no later HS start times coming anytime soon due to "major ramifications"
Pls explain? I thought the new nifty Task Force needed to study this issue.
They say they are committed to"study" the issue and then hold tight for the 2013/14 school year for recommendations.
Won't happen.
For working parents whose have conventional working business hours, the new late start times are a huge burden. It is hard to fathom how they could pull something like this. This is not helpful for working families. Not all of us can go out and get nannies to get the kids to school mid morning.
Working parent
>Much of staff is resistant
>Only some of the current board wants it
>The change would have to be finalized this fall in order to plan for the following school year
>We have a new superintendent
Not going to happen.
Won't happen the 2014-15 year either unless there is a ridiculous amount of public pressure.
DistrictWatcher
With a small attendance area most kids don't need the bus, so those parents don't get to use the bus as their substitute childcare. Regardless of your school, 9:30 start times can be a huge challenge for working parents--and that extra half hour can be the difference between a barely acceptable work schedule and one that just won't fly...
If so, it raises serious concerns -- why would the district be asking several schools to sacrifice by changing bell times in the name of saving transportation dollars while spending money to provide yellow bus service to people living in Magnolia? Does anyone out there know the facts on this Magnolia deal? Please let us know if this rumor is incorrect.
--signed scared and scarred
Pretty sure there are other schools and areas w a similar fix, but can't recall them just now. They were identified in one of the transportation threads I think.
(mag mom)
We got predictable assignment at the price of extra special stop gap buses (and other things). Classic case of SPS not bothering to determine the 2nd order impacts of their decisions.
In defense of DeBell, the same things happens for Laurelhurst kids going to Roosevelt and Broadview kids going to Ingraham and many many kids going to Cleveland.
Why can't we just be normal, and have normal start and release times, like other districts??? So many disrupted schedules, and for what? Pocket change, by this district's standards. When are families really going to matter?
Unhappy
Thornton Creek had been notified mid-year that they were moved to the 8:20 tier. Now they are at 9:30.
So that means the ridiculously overcrowded NE gets to deliver the transportation savings. I would ask why the schools that are already so over burdened have to give more, except that I don't think there are any schools left that haven't been over-burdened.
another pissed off ne seattle family.
Looks like very early mornings for kids that need to transfer buses.
Not to take away from the rest of your comment, but I don't believe the original premise. There were certainly some folks that were in favor of predictability over programs and flexibility, but I don't think it was ever a majority.
We got neighborhood assignments because Goodloe Johnson wanted to make her mark in this town. Quickly and steadfastly. As with most of her changes, the new SAP was about standardization and "equity". To heck with ANY special program or special needs. Every student can be handled in any school by any staff and by any teacher.
Of course this is preposterous, but we're on a path to her ideal, which is the equity where NO ONE gets a great program anymore. I hope many of her ill-conceived changes get undone with new management.
I still think that McGilvra was a good choice, regardless of whether it's convenient for me personally.
McGilvra has short commutes, high-quality onsite before and after care, before-school language classes, and a population with more flexibility (both in time and money) than many other schools.
On a day when your child has after-school activities, you may need to pick them up at school rather than at the bus stop. Or, you could take advantage of the Kids Time activities, after-care, and soccer right at school. Again, not every school has these options.
This change probably means that I will be paying for before-school care (or mandarin class) one or two days a week. Most families at the school can absorb that, where the same can't be said for families at, say, Gazert or Madrona. I'm ok with taking one for the team here.