Liverpool — The Liverpool Central School District Board of Education has already decided it needs to at least look into later start times at the high school.
Now the BOE has to determine what else a new committee on modified school start times should examine.
At its meeting Monday night, the board set out a few topics of discussion for the committee to pursue as it began its work. The board’s dialogue came two weeks after the initial report from the Modified School Start Times Committee (MSSTC) recommended that the school board pursue later class times for Liverpool High School. While none of the MSSTC’s tentative plans for implementation have been made public, the board of education made a list of areas for the committee to address as it goes forward:
- The composition of the committee itself
- Communication between the committee and the school board
- The possible requirements for professional development
- Costs
- Which buildings in the district will be affected
- Communication with and education of the community
BOE President Pat DeBona-Rosier said the MSSTC asked for guidance on where to begin in hammering out the district’s plan to start high school classes later in the morning. Rosier asked her fellow board members whether community members on the MSSTC should continue to participate in the committee.
“We need to have the community included because they’re going to be the ones who educate their neighbors,” said board member David Watson.
The board could not come to a consensus on how often the MSSTC should report back to the school board, however. Board member Kevin Van Ness suggested the board send a liaison to MSSTC meetings, while his colleague Stacey O’Neill Balduf said she favored the use of Google Docs to create a written record of the committee’s meetings. Board member James Root said the committee may not need to report back after each meeting, as the MSSTC does not expect to implement the start time changes until the 2017-18 school year.
continued — Board member Neil Fitzpatrick said updates could be as simple as a short email and could change over time as the committee works out the details of the change.
“This is going to evolve and change,” Fitzpatrick said. “It doesn’t have to be color pictures and a cover sheet.”
Fitzpatrick advocated giving the committee some parameters and “mileposts” to encourage the MSSTC to commit to a timeline.
As for communicating the process to the Liverpool community, board members’ opinions were mixed.
“I don’t think the community needs to know as it’s developing,” Root said. “They need to know once it’s done.”
Van Ness disagreed, saying the change could be a “big deal” for community members. He suggested the district publish updates about the committee’s mission, members and contact information on the LCSD website or in the School Bell.
Board member Richard Pento suggested MSSTC members visit various buildings’ parent-teacher organizations to present the medical research findings the committee used to come to its conclusions.
“It may also generate some additional participants,” Pento said.
“There’s going to be a lot of people who need to adjust their work schedules or daycare schedules,” board member Michael Leone said of the potential impact on parents.
Pento also pointed out that the changes might not be limited to just Liverpool High School. He said the district may also consider the varying start times at its middle schools.
“I would like to create equity among peer groups,” he said.
Watson said the district should consider how it will advocate for families who may need assistance in changing their schedules to fit new start times.
“This is a big undertaking, especially for the people who don’t have the resources [to change their schedules easily],” Watson said. “Advocate for people who really won’t have any advocates.”
Watson suggested recommending families connect with local or state agencies for help with childcare, and he said the district could go to bat for families with inflexible employers.
DeBona-Rosier said the MSSTC continues to develop several options for the modified start time plan, but the board wants to wait until the committee has finalized its options before revealing them to the public.
