An update - action required!

Please urge School Committee Members to vote NO on the current proposal for new high school schedule. Even if you have done so already, please continue to voice your concern over the proposed new end time of 3:45 pm and the new high school flex block schedule which has significant, negative impacts for all students who participate in any type of afterschool activity. This means, employment, sports, music, theatre, math teams, debate teams, for METCO students, or for student who may need to leave school early for extracurricular classes, personal responsibilities and family commitments.  

For student-athletes alone (close to 1,000 kids across both high schools) this means over 3,600 hours of lost CLASS time. 

In the previous school schedule, an early departure from school would typically result in the loss of flex time. With the new school schedule which moves flex block to the middle of the day, 4 days a week, students who leave early will leave during an academic class, causing disruption to the teacher, flow of the class and other students. For athletes, this early departure will be a regular occurrence, forcing students to choose between attending a class or participate in after-school sports. 

No accommodations are being made or even proposed to consider students who participate in extracurricular activities, providing an unfair and inequitable situation for students. 

The impact of the later end time also will impact community sports and education programs who use Newton fields and facilities. These include Newton Girls Soccer, Newton Youth Soccer and Newton Community Education. 

Please urge School Committee members to vote NO on the current proposal and urge the planning committee to revisit high school start/end time so that it considers the full range of needs of high school students, both at the start and end of the school day. 

For the list of School Committee Members and their email addresses, go to https://www.newton.k12.ma.us/Page/688 

Next School Committee Meeting is scheduled at 7PM on Wednesday, April 28. To participate in the public comment portion of a meeting, please submit your NAME and ADDRESS by email with the subject line: "Public Comment for [DATE]" to schoolcommittee@newton.k12.ma.us PRIOR to 7:00 p.m. You will need to join the virtual meeting by computer or phone to participate.

Zoom meeting link: https://zoom.us/j/390017072

Call-in information:  1-646-558-8656 Call-in meeting ID: 390 017 072 

Here is an example of the email sent by one of the high school parents to the SC members -  

Dear Newton School Committee Members, 
I write for a second time to express my concern over the proposed start and end times of high school.
 
Since kindergarten, as parents we have heard over and over about equity between each school in Newton, and about equity within schools for the students.  I fail to see how the proposed start and end times are equitable to the students and families of Newton.
 
Athletes – it is hardly equitable that the choice to attend a DCL away game means missing potentially an important class. Additionally, there are safety concerns with practices outside, in the dark.  My daughter called and asked to be picked up early several times this fall from practice because it was too dark, and the Nordic ski team was running in the neighborhood streets in the dark, when it was icy outside.  Not all sports are given the opportunity to use the fields with lights.
After school activities - whether associated with the high school, or outside sports, enrichment classes, music classes, employment, volunteer activities – students have less time to travel to these activities, and less time to do homework after school, causing late bedtimes.
Caring for siblings – some families depend on the family infrastructure of older siblings caring for younger ones after school.
Single parents or families with two working parents – how can working parents who may need to be at work well before 9 am assist their children in getting on the bus and getting to school? What if a student misses the bus and there is no option to get to school that day because the parent cannot leave work?  What about working families with special needs students who can’t get themselves to school independently?
METCO students – they would arrive home even later than they already do, and how can working parents get their children to a later bus if they need to be at work well before it arrives?
 
The Newton Teacher’s Association stated that the past year gave us a trial run on making a late start time work – just because families were forced to make a later start and end time work during a global pandemic does not mean it is equitable or reasonable to assume this will now be an easy transition for families.
 
The teens need additional sleep argument is fair, but is this how we achieve that?  I would honestly like to know how many Newton students stay up later because they know they need to get up later – I know mine do, and certainly among the families I have spoken to, this is also the case.  It is not equitable and should not affect my family negatively because other Newton families choose not to manage their children’s sleep habits – sleep issues in the teen age group certainly exist but are more likely to be from poor sleep hygiene than actual medical conditions.  Families need to play a role in structuring the day, and night, for their families.  My children should not be affected because parents choose let their kids watch Netflix until 2:00 am on a school night.
 
In 2017, the School Committee stated they were committed to not ending high school later than 3:00 pm.  If Newton Public Schools insists on a late start, I would ask you to uphold the commitment you made regarding ending no later than 3:00 pm when you vote on this proposed change later this month.
 
Thank you for your consideration and time.