Anonymous wrote:The ES start time would be earlier than now, so your child would not be coming home at 5 PM. Part of the problem is that we have too many days of scheduled after-school activities, not that the school-day is too long--IMO.

This is incorrect. Elementary school start times would stay the same. High schools would start 50 minutes later (8:15 instead of 7:25), and middle schools would start 10 minutes earlier (8:45 instead of 8:55).

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/info/neighbor-to-neighbor/0561.14_OverviewofBellTimesFLYER_ENG_web.pdf

The ES start time would be earlier than now, so your child would not be coming home at 5 PM. Part of the problem is that we have too many days of scheduled after-school activities, not that the school-day is too long--IMO.

I am glad to hear others who share my feelings on this. I, too, fully support the HS change but to make that change dependent on extending the day of our youngest kids? There must be a better way. Our little ones don't need to be coming home at 5 pm. Between sports and homework, I'm worried about getting them to bed at a reasonable hour and still having some quality time with them. Seems like a very poorly devised plan.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Was there any mention of using the additional 30 minutes for recess?

Yes, by parents who asked.

I don't see 30 minutes of extra recess and lunch happening. Thinking realistically, maybe they'd add 10 minutes total to lunch/recess (so 5 to each). At our child's elementary school, where we have 6 lunch & recess periods, it seems like it would make the schedule slightly worse (my boy eats at 1:30). I don't know if it could be a school-by-school decision.

Parents also asked if the 30 minutes could be set aside so kids could begin HW. We go to a neighborhood school and when the bus arrives here, it's about 4:00. Adding 30 minutes... and then factoring in kids in HGCs or the language immersion programs... that's an even later return home and begins to hit up against rush hour.

I strongly support this change for HS and can live with the MS change. But have serious reservations about the ES change. There must be a better way.

This is how I feel exactly.

Right now, my ES kids get off the bus at around 4pm. So, with the extra 30 minutes, they'll be getting off the bus at 4:30?

What exactly are they going to do with that extra time in school? Is it really necessary?

Anonymous wrote:Was there any mention of using the additional 30 minutes for recess?

Yes, by parents who asked.

I don't see 30 minutes of extra recess and lunch happening. Thinking realistically, maybe they'd add 10 minutes total to lunch/recess (so 5 to each). At our child's elementary school, where we have 6 lunch & recess periods, it seems like it would make the schedule slightly worse (my boy eats at 1:30). I don't know if it could be a school-by-school decision.

Parents also asked if the 30 minutes could be set aside so kids could begin HW. We go to a neighborhood school and when the bus arrives here, it's about 4:00. Adding 30 minutes... and then factoring in kids in HGCs or the language immersion programs... that's an even later return home and begins to hit up against rush hour.

I strongly support this change for HS and can live with the MS change. But have serious reservations about the ES change. There must be a better way.

This is why I really don't want them to extend the ES day by an extra 30 minutes. I do support starting the HS earlier, but wish there were a way to do this without increasing the ES day.

IMO, the ES kids spend enough time at school. I'd love it if they used those extra 30 minutes for recess, but I highly doubt that is going to happen. Plus, like a PP said, they want it for 'instructional' time. (whatever that means)