Three elementary schools will begin class at 7:30 a.m.
Two weeks and counting … On Tuesday, Aug. 24, school opens for approximately 8,000 Morgan Hill School District students, and many of them will be adjusting to new schedules.
It’s a classic case of “you can’t please everyone,” as the district struggles to balance the huge boundaries of the district with fewer bus drivers to transport students with the state requirements for instructional minutes.
What makes this year different is that Sobrato High is opening, and ninth grade students, formerly at the middle schools with bus service, will now be at the two high schools.
After many meetings to plan a schedule that best meets everyone’s needs, said Deputy Superintendent Bonnie Tognazzini, the current schedule was developed, and the complaints began.
Some parents are concerned because the two middle schools, Britton and Martin Murphy, will start the day at 9 a.m., which makes it necessary for many working parents to make arrangements for someone to make sure their seventh and eighth grade students get to school on time, or trust that the students can do it themselves.
At the other end of the spectrum are the youngest students, some of which will be required to be at school at 7:30 a.m., which means standing out at the bus stop much earlier, possibly in the dark as the days grow shorter.
Some parents are also concerned that with these elementary schools releasing students at 1:30 p.m. every day, some students will have to spend more time at home alone.
The decision on school start times, Tognazzini said, has never been a School Board decision but always a cooperative agreement reached between the district’s transportation department and administration. School principals are given the opportunity to view tentative schedules and make comments, but ultimately the decision is based on logistics.
The schedule is restricted by the miles the buses must cover – the district covers roughly 300 square miles, one of the largest in the state, Tognazzini pointed out – to get so many different schools within a 2.5-hour period. There can be very little flexibility in the schedule, she added.
The district’s new bell schedule posted on the district web site shows both Britton Middle School and Martin Murphy Middle School with start times of 9 a.m., 15 minutes later than during the 2003-2004 school year.
Britton’s dismissal time will be 2:50 p.m.; Martin Murphy has three more minutes per day, a penalty from the state due to a mistake in extending students’ passing time between classes to help reduce tardies.
The two middle schools will have a shorter day next year as ninth grade students move to Live Oak High and the new Sobrato High, and the middle schools return to state-recommended middle school minutes instead of high school minutes.
Last year, Britton’s and Martin Murphy’s day was 8:45 a.m. to 3:38 p.m.
Sobrato High School will be on a 8:15 a.m. to 3:26 p.m. schedule. Live Oak High’s tentative schedule is 8:15 a.m. to 3:08 p.m. Principal Nick Boden said he would know the final schedule later this week.
Last year, Live Oak students started their day at 8:05 a.m., and the final bell rang at 2:58 p.m.
Several of the district’s elementary schools – Barrett, Paradise Valley, P.A. Walsh and San Martin/Gwinn – will begin earlier this year: Barrett will start 15 minutes earlier at 7:45, and the other three will begin at 7:30 a.m. instead of 7:45 a.m. Their end-of-the-day bell will ring at 1:40 p.m.
Three elementary schools – Burnett, El Toro, Nordstrom – will remain on the same 7:45-1:45 schedule.
Two elementary schools – Jackson and Los Paseos – will open their doors later, Jackson at 8 a.m. instead of 7:50 a.m., and Los Paseos at 8:55 a.m. instead of 8:30 a.m.
During the last board meeting July 19, however, concerned parents let School Board trustees know they were not happy about the decision-making process and the fact that there was no opportunity for parents to offer comment.
Sheila McGilvey, president of the P.A. Walsh Elementary Home & School Club said during the meeting that the district needs to consider other options, perhaps more buses.
“Ask the Home & School Club,” McGilvey said. “We have money.”
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. She can be reached by e-mail at mdubil@morganhilltimes .com or phoning (408) 779-4106 Ext. 202.
