Schools

Decatur Schools Bell Schedule to be Discussed at Board Meeting Tuesday

Superintendent Phyllis Edwards, in the latest proposal, suggests the high school start about 30 minutes earlier.

City Schools of Decatur will take up the bell schedule for its area schools Tuesday as it looks to accommodate buses for the opening of the new Fifth Avenue Academy.

The school system, which meets at 6:30 p.m. at the administrative offices on Scott Boulevard, will also continue discussing the next fiscal year budget and several other items on the agenda.

The bell schedule changes has become a contentious issue at times with parents ever since Superintendent Phyllis Edwards proposed earlier school start times to pave the way for the new school opening and the transportation plan. 

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Edwards, school administrators and the board regarding the earlier start times, including how studies show that adolescents don’t perform well on tests or in school if they wake too early. Some parents at the also contended the earlier start times was influenced by convenience for athletic programs.

Since then, Edwards has suggested revisions, including the latest proposal, which includes no school opening times before 8 a.m.

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School Proposed Time Decatur High 8 a.m. to  3 p.m. Clairemont Elementary 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Glennwood Elementary 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Oakhurst Elementary 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Winnona Park Elementary 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Fifth Avenue Academy 8:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Renfroe Middle 8:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.

In the Superintendent's letter to the board posted for Tuesday's meeting, she said the school system has 10 regular buses that would work on different shifts to get children to their respective schools.

“If we added a single route and separate time for the [Fifth Avenue] Academy and used a separate set of buses, there would be an additional cost associated with adding approximately six to seven buses,” Edwards wrote in her letter to the board.

Any extra bus would cost at least an additional $30,000 each for a driver’s salary and benefits.

Reactions by Decatur school board members are mixed.

“For every $1 spent on a bus, a $1 is not spent on instruction,” said John Ahmann, a Decatur school board member. “No bell times are perfect. We want to balance out the costs.”

City Schools of Decatur, like many school systems, is looking to cut costs for the coming fiscal year and is even considering a millage increase. The proposed increase on the table is from 19.90 mills to 20.90 mills.

Ahmann said he is interested in hearing more views from the community and superintendent but wouldn’t mind seeing Fifth Avenue start times at 8:20 a.m., ending at 3:20 p.m. For Renfroe and Decatur High, he suggests 8:45 a.m.

“I’m curious as to whether or not we can use one less bus for the high school,” Ahmann said, adding that parents suggest that just 12 percent of high schoolers use the bus system. “Maybe we just need three.”

School board member Valarie Wilson thinks the latest proposal on school start times takes in everyone’s feedback and thoughts.

“I think it works,” Wilson said. “I want to make sure Dr. Edwards is taking in comments and it sounds like she is.”

Marc Wisniewski, board chair for City Schools of Decatur, called the bell schedule proposal “workable.”

“There are pros and cons for any version you come up with,” he said. “It’s a conundrum.”

He added, “I’m supportive of the bell schedule being proposed not because it’s the best one but because it’s a workable one. I don’t think a radical bell schedule change is something we should be doing short term. We can launch into a longer term assessment and I’m certainly supportive of that.”

Board member Bernadette Seals will not be voting at tonight’s meeting due to a prior conflict, and Julie Rhame could not be reached for comment.

Patch will be live blogging from tonight’s school board meeting. Stay tuned to www.decatur.patch.com for updates.


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