With the start of school less than two weeks away, school officials are hurriedly implementing a new bus schedule, the county is scrambling to find funding for expanded after-school programs, and parents are stepping up efforts to put a stop to it all. Last week the Orange County School Board approved a new bus schedule for the 2008-09 school year, finalizing a major overhaul of school operations.
Beginning with the first day of school on Aug. 18, the start times will be switched for middle school and high school students in Orange County Public Schools. Middle school will begin at 7:30 a.m., while the high school bell will sound at 9:30 a.m. According to school officials, the revised schedule was needed to cut transportation costs in a $2.2 billion budget for 2008-09, which is $70 million less than the previous year.
The revised schedule will streamline bus routes and reduce the number of buses needed, saving on maintenance and operating costs. In the first year, it is estimated that $15 million in capital and operating costs would be saved, and up to $5.7 million in savings annually after next year. The change in schedule was not reached, however, without an outcry from parents and students. Those opposed to the start-time swap cited the impact such a transition would have on families.
They voiced concern over middle-schoolers waiting for the school bus in darkness during the winter months. Working parents also did not like the idea of these youngsters being sent home in the early afternoon, without supervision. For high school students, the new schedule could play havoc with extracurricular activities and after-school jobs.
But School Board members were adamant, saying the switch was needed to offset a 13 percent reduction in 2008-09 operating expenses. This argument, though, did not satisfy parents and stakeholders, who turned out in large numbers last week to protest the School Board’s actions. “It’s not just a money decision, it’s a community decision,” said Andrea Samson, who has been in the vanguard of a grassroots movement to halt the start-time switch.
Her reaction to the School Board vote last week was shared by many. “Disappointed is a mild word. Crushed is more like it,” she said. “They had so many opportunities, and reasons, to change their minds, but they didn’t.”
Parents file suit
And their objections will now be
heard in the courts.
Last week four individual parents
with children in school filed suit to stop
the new schedule from being implemented.
Attorney Eben Self said the lawsuit
states that proper public notice was not
given regarding the revised schedule
and that the School Board’s actions violated
“due process” and Florida’s
Sunshine State laws.
He said the first time the issue was
discussed by school officials was at a
March 21 retreat, but no specific mention
of new start times and recorded
minutes of the session were provided.
Also, at a May 13 School Board meeting,
an agenda item only referred to a
“revised delivery schedule,” which Self
said did not constitute proper notice.
“You have to be a forensic scientist to figure out they were talking about the school start times,” he said. The lawsuit seeks an injunction to stop the new schedule from taking place until the challenge is ruled on. Self said board members overreacted to the budget crunch and quickly threw together a plan that was not thoroughly researched.
“They didn’t do their homework on this and they just sort of knee-jerked their way through it,” he said. “The disservice being done to this community is really unfortunate.” To make his point, the attorney also cited a couple of recent examples of how this issue has been addressed in the past by other school districts. In 2002 Lee County swapped starting times for middle and high school students, expecting to save $2.1 million.
But due to hidden costs (school buses wasting time and fuel in rush-hour traffic), and unintended consequences (winter sports programs adversely affected by darkness), the board switched back 15 months later. Also, Lake County public schools, in response to the deaths of two students related to early morning darkness at their bus stops (in 1995 and 1998), switched to a schedule where high school students start their day before those in middle school. Another example can be found closer to home.
It was less than 10 years ago that OCPS switched to the starting times that had been in use until this new school year. Bert Carrier was a member of the School Board at the time. “There was a spate of [middle school] children being hit by cars in the dark at bus stops,” he recalled. “The School Board felt it would be better if older kids, who were more mature and not chasing each other into the street, started their day earlier.”
So the switch was made. Carrier said the change seemed to work well right from the start. Not only was the safety of middle school children improved in morning darkness — from the dangers posed by cars and child molesters — but the high school students who had their own cars weren’t affected at all, he said. Also, working parents with more than one child were relieved to have their older children come home first so they could help take care of younger siblings when they got back from school.
Carrier, who served on the School Board from 1992-04 and is running again in District 7 in the next election, said the upcoming start-time swap is ill-conceived. “To me, this whole thing is counterproductive to the safety of the children,” he said. “Of course, board members would not place children’s safety in jeopardy. Saddled with the financial crisis they have, they felt this was the only option.” Carrier, however, would like to see the switch postponed for a year while the school district looks for more viable options.
After-school programs expanded
With middle school students ending
their day earlier in the afternoon, afterschool
programs will be expanded.
But this has proven difficult as Orange
County, which funds the programs, is
dealing with a hold-the-line budget.
But on the final day of budget workshops
in July, the county came up with
an additional $300,000, raising funding
for after-school programs to $3.7 million.
Still, despite the increase, the afterschool
programs will end at 5:30 p.m.
instead of 6 p.m.
Other reductions are also expected. Pete Clark, deputy director of the county’s Health and Family Services Department, explained that while the details are still being worked out, participants may face fewer field trips, the elimination of a few weeks in the summer program, and cutbacks in transportation provided by after-care providers at some schools at the conclusion of the day.
“It’s a struggle,” Clark said, “but it will all be worked out by the start of school.” OCPS after-school programs (After School Zone) are provided by the YMCA and the Boys & Girls Clubs, depending on the school. The content of the programs also varies according to provider. For the first hour after the end of school, student participants will be supervised by school staff in various activities.
At approximately 3:15 p.m. the provider services will begin. All after-school programs are provided free of charge, but parents must register children at their school to receive services. Although there is no fee for these programs, the eventual cost to children and families may be significant. Fred Schott, vice chairman of the Orange-Osceola Juvenile Justice board, said taking care of more than 30,000 middle-schoolers should be our top priority.
And he is willing to help. Schott is working with churches and faith-based groups to come up with alternative after-school music programs, aimed primarily at at-risk children. With one such program already established in Parramore, Schott hopes to give these children guidance during a pivotal time in their young lives.
“Middle school tends to be the age where you lose them,” he said. “I don’t think 11-12-13-year-olds should be unsupervised, or they end up in the juvenile justice system.” With the lawsuit, the battleground has shifted, however. Samson said her e-mail network of parents and community members is now involved with fundraising activities to pay for the upcoming litigation. No more protests are planned.
“We’re going to be quiet and just raise money. We’ve rattled enough cages for awhile,” she said. But Samson, who has a grandchild in middle school, said it is not over. Although community opposition started in humble fashion, with parents first meeting each other at School Board meetings, the movement continues to grow with a shared purpose and strong bond.
“It began with the exchange of e-mails in the bathroom [at the Educational Leadership Center]. Never underestimate the power of females,” she said.
