Middle schools will start the day earlier, and high schools lat...

I taught HS for many years and I can say that high school kids are not alert during 1st period. They sit with blank faces and look comatose. They don't "wake up" become alert until about 9 AM. How many people here attempt to read Hawthorne, solve theorems, dissect frogs, or study the impact of the Russian Revolution at 7:20 AM?

It is not the job of OCPS to make sure that kids can work after school. This can easily be solved. Kids can take "zero hour" at 8:30 AM and get out of school an hour earlier than everyone else so they can flip burgers.

Other activities can take place before school.

MS kids can be in after school activities. Many schools could provide organized activities a couple hours after school, of course, parents will have to pay a small fee. They can take the tax money they saved by voting for the tax cut and apply it towards their kids' safety.

These morons on the OC School Board obviously do not have have teenagers still at home! To all the parents who struggle like I do. Clink your coffee mugs with me!

Ron Blocker, When is the last time you had to get a 16 year old out of bed to go to school?

It's tough enough getting them up and out the door before you go to work...Now, we have to leave them at home and "expect" that they will get up while we're miles away at work! Research doesn't have to tell you that there will be an increase in tardiness in high schools because of young people who will oversleep because the parents aren't there to drag their a**es out of bed in the morning!

"Work before school?" What a joke! Just another reason for them being late to school. And by the way, will the school bus take them from work to school?

Before school activities? Are we talking about football practice, etc.? So you get them on the football field in the morning - bang them up - send them to class and they do what? Listen to the instructor?

Someone needs to get the school board members' heads out of the bus tail pipes! They've sniffed way too much exhaust fumes!

KWH wrote:

This has to rank up there with the most stupid decisions in the history of the world. Not just Orange County. As a father of two students, former coach, club sponsor, and teacher this decision is CRIMINAL! Am I glad that I moved from winter park ---------YES !

OK - I was wrong, THIS is the dumbest statement of the day. Kudos to you.

Well, there goes two of my best employees, both of whom were working to help support their families.

This is going to have a lot of repercussions for many businesses that employ high school students, and it will lead to a lot of them not being able to save for college or help their families.

Orlandoan wrote:

I taught HS for many years and I can say that high school kids are not alert during 1st period. They sit with blank faces and look comatose. They don't "wake up" become alert until about 9 AM.

So 11 and 12 year olds will fair better with sitting through 1st and 2nd period before 9 AM?

I feel sorry for the board members. They are taking heat and just doing the best they can with what our pathetic state legislators have given them.

No Teens at Home wrote:

These morons on the OC School Board obviously do not have have teenagers still at home! To all the parents who struggle like I do. Clink your coffee mugs with me!
Ron Blocker, When is the last time you had to get a 16 year old out of bed to go to school?

Blocker has a daughter who is a junior at Olympia HS.

getoverit wrote:

Well, there goes two of my best employees, both of whom were working to help support their families.
This is going to have a lot of repercussions for many businesses that employ high school students, and it will lead to a lot of them not being able to save for college or help their families.

It is not the school board's responsibility to ensure that students have after-school jobs. Blame this one on your Governor and state legislature for pushing Amendement 1.

Ok, ok, ok, reverse the decision and fire one more teacher per school. thanks for the sacrifice, teachers.

getoverit wrote:

Well, there goes two of my best employees, both of whom were working to help support their families.
This is going to have a lot of repercussions for many businesses that employ high school students, and it will lead to a lot of them not being able to save for college or help their families.

Why would you lose them?

I would have preferred to keep the same schedule, but I do not think that this is as devastating as people think. There are plenty of school districts around the country, one in which my sister just graduated, that have a similar schedule.

Plenty of those high school kids work. Bands and sports teams still practice after school. Clubs have meetings before school or during lunch. Kids get to school on time. Middle school kids boarding the bus at 7:00am are not being attacked. High school students can take an "early bird" class and get out an hour earlier in the afternoon.

Just as in our personal lives, when money gets short, we have to make adjustments in our lifestyles. Would you rather have to do things two hours earlier or later or would you rather they just cut more art, music, resource officers, nurses, reading, etc.?

I don't know why this website is saying I am from Winter Park....I never gave it a zip code...

"Safety is paramount," said Jeff Armentrout, who has two high-school-aged children. "You are creating -- I don't know how many -- latchkey kids."

No Jeff, the school board does not make latchkey kids - parents do. How many latchkey kids did we have from the beginning of the 20th century to the beginning of the 1980's? Nowhere near what we have today. Parents make a decision based on the cars they drive, houses the live in, etc.

Parents make latchkey kids - not school boards.

What is best for the heavily tested high school student, versus bending to the will of the public? What a choice!
For me a high school teacher and coach the early high school time was fine, but the vote should be based on what is best for the students' academic future. The complaints - what about jobs and sports etc are like special interests in politics and not the fundamental concern here. The saved millions aside, the school boards job is to support what is best for student performance. So four of the board members could go in our local version of 'Profiles in Courage'.

To save money let's get rid of the buses altogether. Make the parents responsible for getting their children to school. This would save the school systems millions per year.

We CAN change things.

It is my understanding that there are 4 school board seats up for re election this November:

District 4 - Karen Ardaman
District 5 - "Kat" Gordon
District 6 - Anne Geiger
District 7 - Jim Martin

Find out who represents your district and see who else is running for the board. Possibly the only race that has no one running against the incumbent is in District 5.

GET INVOLVED FOR THE GOOD OF THE KIDS AND COMMUNITY.

FINALLY, OCPS has done something right.. High schoolers + 1st period at 7:20 = no production.

Middle schoolers can get used to it. Don't blame OCPS b/c they can't baby sit your kids at your convenience. Go to a private school or get some cheese with your WHINE..

At the high school where I use to teach, we did the same thing. We had the kids report to high school at 9 am and get out at 3:30 pm. There was an uproar there as well. The change made really no difference in the kids ability to work, attend clubs, or be in sports. Clubs/band met in the morning before school and sports practice did somethings before school and some after. Things worked out just as well in the end. We are all resistent to change.

There are a lot of people who are posting that work for OCPS. Yesterday, Dade County held a meeting where it too has to trim its budget - 200 million of trimming.
Dade county has decided to trim 2100 jobs. Orange needed to do the same thing. There are overlapping student service position that could be reviewed and/or cut. Teachers have to be saved, but there is a lot of support positions that could be cut.
Other communities are trying 4 day school weeks.
What I am posting is there should have been more studies of possible cost cutting before majoy changes are made, and after last night's comments, might be short gap changes of two years. Why turn upside the cart for a two year run?
Orange County voters will respond to board decisions this November.

It is interesting that only 300ish parents and students showed up, if people are really upset why didn't more show up to express their thoughts??? How many of ya'll showed up???

Get a life people what make you think that middle schoolers are in more danger in the morning then HS? If you are so concerned about your child then show up and wait with them..... a little adult supervision can go along way.....

If you don't like it get involved and help find other ways of cutting the budget........ What would you cut? more teachers?(how large are you willing to go?) custodians?(will each parent give one evening a year to clean their child's school?) sports?(Let's not have after dark activities to save on power what do you think? get rid of night time football?) the number of text books? the media center? the cafeteria (everyone has to bring their lunch)?

The money has to come from somewhere every dollar is counting - help your school identify the waste and find ways to stop it......

I challenge everyone who is unhappy to become ACTIVE in your PTA, and attend school board meetings.....

I don't know what the solution is but I do know I am not hearing people offering an alternative?