Do schools start too early? | Edutopia | Poll

Do schools start too early? | Edutopia Click to take the poll.

by Sara Bernard

Summertime is coming to an end, but for many schools, it has already ended. The controversy surrounding school start dates has generated a slew of legislation in recent years: State law in Wisconsin mandates that schools start September 1 or later (with exceptions made in special circumstances), and Florida’s House Bill 7087 requires schools to start no earlier than two weeks before Labor Day. In Sioux Falls, South Dakota, however, similar legislation was voted down, and schools are starting earlier as a result. Though much late-start date legislation stems from community and economic interests, some people argue that schools have the incentive to start later, too, based on high summertime energy bills and the potential of low attendance in the summer months. Tell us what you think.

Click here to take the poll.

To Meet at Central Office, To Not Meet at Central Office. That is the Question.

Those of us on the board are having a little discussion, whether or not to have the board meetings at Central Office.  It is a minor issue, but I think a worthy topic for discussion.  One of the reasons in favor of having the board meeting at its current location, The John Cary Early Childhood Center, is “that the former board was criticized by some of our patrons for being inaccessible when the meetings were held at the C.O. board room.  The purpose for moving to the JCEC was to create an environment whereby our public would feel more involved and our board more approachable.”

I certainly see this as being an issue.  As someone who likes to engage our community on an ongoing, open, and transparent manor, I can empathize with this argument.

However, I do not see that as the purpose of our board meetings.  Our board meetings are for our board and administration to communicate with each other and make decisions.  You may have heard the saying before that school board meetings are, “meetings in public, not public meetings.”  While we do offer time for a period of open comments, for the most part, the board meetings are so that the individual members of the board can legally get together and make policy and financial decisions for the school district.

Board meetings are not really the place and time for accessibility and engagement.  Before the meeting, fine; after the meeting; fine, but during the meeting, we are not very accessible, even at John Cary. 

In order for board members to communicate our positions effectively, we need to remember that we are talking with each other, trying to reach a consensus, with what hopefully is a good decision for our school district.

It is much harder for us as board members to empathize with each other, and understand each other when we cannot see each other.  When I am trying to communicate with Mike Ocello, for instance, I want to be able to see him.  I want to be able to receive and decipher his non-verbal queues, his body language. 

Most importantly, it is necessary for us to see the president of the board, and it is even more necessary for the president of the board to be able to see us.

I also prefer the decorum of Central Office for board meetings, but that is just a personal preference that we may choose to include in to the discussion or not, and has little to do with our ability to communicate.

What do you think?

Karl Frank, Jr.
Vice-President
Mehlville School District  

Man killed after colliding with school bus

Here is yet another example of how school bus travel is very safe, even without seatbelts.  As a matter of fact, our children are 8 times safer in a school bus than in another automobile, as it relates to travel to and from school.

STLtoday – News – St. Charles
Man killed after colliding with school bus
By Jessica Bock
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
08/28/2007
School bus accident
The accident scene of a school bus that was carrying Orchard farm Elementary School kids that crashed about one mile north of Blase Station Road on Highway 94.
Sam Leone/P-D

ST. CHARLES COUNTY — An Illinois man died Monday after trying to pass another car and hitting a school bus full of children nearly head on, leaving the students scared but mostly uninjured.