Parents from Crestdale Middle School are petitioning the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board to revisit the 2012-13 bell schedule announced last month. Interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh signed off on changing the start and dismissal times for 10 schools; Crestdale's moved 30 minutes later, to a 9-4 school day. The move is designed to save more than $600,000 on busing costs.
Parents are upset that CMS made changes that affect their family life and students' after-school opportunities without giving them a chance to weigh in. Those who have older kids in high school, with a 7:15 a.m. start time, say the change is especially stressful.
Katy Ridnouer, one of the parents urging CMS to reconsider, says she's heard nothing specific from board members. I emailed board members on Wednesday, asking them to let me know if they plan to propose revising the bell schedule. I've gotten no replies.
It's possible that someone could ask Hattabaugh to try again. The board is likely to discuss transportation costs as part of ongoing budget talks. But this is a classic example of a dilemma that faces this school board and others: The temptation to micromanage.
At their recent retreat, CMS board members said they're committed to sticking to their role as policy-makers. Setting school hours is "below the line" for board intervention, but it's also the kind of decision that affects people's lives and inspires pleas for help.
Boards that try to do the superintendent's job are generally studies in bad leadership, writes Gene Maeroff, an education researcher and New Jersey school board member, in "School Boards in America: A Flawed Exercise in Democracy."
"Democracy does not mean that the people's representatives -- the school board -- take over and operate the schools any more than it means that the board members of a symphony play the violins," he writes.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Bells may be below the line
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Since everyone always compares CMS to Wake County, here's a link to their current bell schedule issue.
The Wake BOE has an online feedback form for parents to weigh in on proposed bell changes which will keep them at 99% efficiency and saving them $6 million dollars.
http://www.wcpss.net/feedback/comments/
In typical CMS BOE fashion, they choose to shirk their duties either higher or lower, as in this case and with Bright Beginnings.
The CMS BOE is responsible for spending and spending efficiency wich includes transportation. So in light of that fact, the BOE has everything to do with the bell schedule because it directly affects the transportation budget.
They did the same with Bright Beginnings, voting to postpone cutting the program as Gorman wanted and waited until the BOCC miraculously came up with the money to keep it.
So much for the above/below the line policy making process and not doing the superintendent's job...
I hope they do the right thing and ignore those parents as they did 2 years ago to the Hawk Ridge Elementary community. No one helped us out-thanks Tim Morgan-we were told deal with the schedule. Fair is fair.
Yet another example of a school community being negatively impacted by the FREE magnet school busing that CMS provides to students and their families who "choose" to attend a school that is other than their home school. Magnet school transportation costs are 3X that of transporting these same children to their home schools. Thus, the need to alter neighborhood school bell schedules to achieve offsetting cost savings.
9:00 - 4:00 sounds perfect for a school schedule. Gives the student ample time to do homework in the evening and to wake up at a reasonable time, clubs and tutoring before school. The real problem in CMS is the 7:15am High school start time. It is a disservice to ALL of the HS students in our district. CMS is way behind the times with this one.
fyi...most of the Wake County Elem schools are moving to a 9:25am - 3:55pm bell schedule for next year.
fyi...according to the Wake website, that schedule has not yet been approved... but to save $6 million, it will most likely be adopted.
In accordance with board policy, the school board must adopt bell schedules for 2012-13 by the end of March.
Most of those elementary changes will be only 10 minutes and a few up to 50 minutes.
http://www.wcpss.net/news/2012_feb7_transportation/120207_transportation-handouts.pdf
Rather than altering neighborhood bell schedules, why doesn't the district ask the magnet school families who decide to send their children to a non-neighborhood school to reimburse the school district for the additional transportation cost (~$1,000 per student). Seems like the right and fairer way to deal with this issue.
CMS Board of Education Policy EEAC, “Bus Scheduling and Routing” specifically has a provision for the community to take student transportation issues to the Board of Education. CMS Board policy requires an appeal to the Transportation department, then to the superintendent whose decision may then may be appealed to the Board of Education. Did CMS disclose this procedure to the concerned community as good neighbor or might delay by omission be the current tactic? To suggest the Board has no role is not consistent with Board of Education policy. This is an attempt to separate the elected officials from their fiduciary duty to the community. The decision itself has nothing to do with impact on education outcomes for Charlotte Mecklenburg children. This is purely a decision of economics. Note to file: Plato taught students outside.
I live right around the corner from Polo ridge elem school. We were very surprised when we moved here two years ago that CMS provided bus service for us, and that they didn't charge for it. Seems backwards and inefficient to me to provide so much bus service.
Has CMS ever disclosed how many students ACTUALLY ride the buses? They give one number to the State for funding purposes, base the bus routes on that number of riders but in actuality the number of riders is much lower....probably by 30% or more. The district is currently providing much more bus service than it needs to.
CMS already cut magnet transportation costs by making those parents meet at designated drop locations.
Magnets are not going away and those students have just as much of a right to ride a bus to school as any other child. You can also blame CMS for using magnets to "diversify" the schools.
Some of the "neighborhood" school zones have longer commutes than kids going to magnets yet we don't make those parents meet at drop points to save transportation costs.
Mr. Wiley, I live in far South Charlotte. We have 3 different Magnet buses that come to my neighborhood and pick up a total of 4 students. They drive approx 18 miles each way, with only a handful of kids on each full sized bus. They aren't going to any "designated" spots as you mention. It is a complete waste of money and does affect all the other school bell schedules due to the inefficiecy of the system.
True for magnet high schools and middle schools and K-8 but not the magnet elementary schools. I don't understand why elementary magnets do not have the same shuttle program as the others. If it works for the little kids in K-8 magnets, it should work for all elementary students. I think I know the answer - CMS cannot support the shuttle stops for that many children - but it should still be revisited to see if they can make it work.
On another topice-CMS should ban the using of Boosterthons. Any group that takes 48% plus $2,000 of the profit is not appropriate for a school fund raiser. Say no to them!
Wiley,
Your 8:27 comment regarding some neighborhood bus runs being longer than some magnet school runs is irrelevant, because in any case where a child is attending their neighborhood school, they are doing so by direction from CMS. Yet, whenever a child attends a magnet school, they are "voluntarily" opting out of the neighborhood system (I realize often times for good reasons) and choosing to attend a different school.
So, your argument that some longer neighborhood runs vs. magnet school runs justifies magnet school busing doesn't hold water.
Magnet school busing, on average costs ~$1,400, vs. neighborhood busing that costs on average ~$400 per student.
CMS could also achieve tremendous savings in their transportation budget if they adopted the state mandated 1.5 mile transportation zones, instead CMS' .5 mile zones that are currently in place. This would mean that anyone living within 1.5 miles of their neighborhood school would be responsible for their child's transportation, instead of CMS' current policy of .5 mile transportation zones.
"Neighborhood" schools that have a longer commute are the result of CMS, not the "choice" program. Given a choice, most parents would prefer the neighborhood schools actually be in the neighborhood instead of everyone trying to socially engineer the schools.
9:26, I think your cost numbers are interesting but I would submit something else to think about. If you the family unit and the student want a better education at a magnet school than your "home school" and the statistics indicate that is so, why not allow the extra $1000 for busing and forego the $4k to $6k more differential many neighborhood schools cost to educate with little improvement year to year?
I do not have a problem with paying a little more to educate a child if I get a like improvement in academic performance.
Families at Community House have been doing this all year except it is even worse for us because we get out at 4:15 and buses are even later in arriving at school because of more rush hour traffic. My kids have yet to walk in the door before 5:00. They have to miss school for doctor and dentist appts. and don't even think about trying to schedule any after school activites. There is not one board member that has a kid on this schedule. That is why they don't see it as an issue. "Walk a mile in my shoes............."
The both the current and proposed bell schedules are ridiculous. If you have children in both Middle school and High School it is a nightmare to coordinate transportation for any after school activities. If you have children at all three levels like some, then forget about it.
7:15 start time for high school is just dumb! My student has to be up at around 5:15 am and then practice for sports usually runs until 4:30- just in time to conflict with the middle school dismissal. If your high school student isn't involved in sports then they are out at 2:15 with plenty of time on their hands to get into trouble. If your middle school student is involved in sports, then they aren't finished until 5:30 or 6pm.
After school Dr. appointments are almost impossible with the 4:15 middle school bell schedule. By the time you wait through a car line at school you are luck to be out of the parking lot before 4:35. You almost have no choice but to pull them out during the school day to have teeth cleaned, orthodontic adjustments, etc. It needs to be better.
9:26...
Any data coming from CMS is suspect.
My son attended a magnet that happened to be in our neighborhood school and my son didn't ride a bus for 4 years, magnet, home school or otherwise.
I'm sure the cost of transporting students to magnets is higher, however, within that data, was my son included or not?
Also, out of a system of 140,000 students, only about 19,000 attend magnets and how many of them ride a bus?
Regarding your "home school" argument and mine not holding water, a bus is a bus is a bus and fuel costs are fuel costs. The farthest point of the West Meck boundary is 6 miles and for North Meck it's almost 6 miles. As someone else stated, I'm all for enacting a 1.5 mile radius around the schools and not offer bus service.
Of course with BOE member Rhonda Lennon, that won't happen because in her words; Rhonda Lennon noted that students who live near school are the cheapest to bus, and said eliminating their rides makes little sense.
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/12/15/1911198/davis-tate-re-elected-to-lead.html#storylink=cpy
Ellis-Stewart stated last year: Ericka Ellis-Stewart, who has students at two affected schools, said the changes will deprive many families – especially stay-home parents or those without cars – of the chance to take advantage of such offerings as foreign-language immersion, arts, technology and International Baccalaureate programs.
...sooo..back to that "below the line" issue...
It needs to be uniform and it is not today. Hugh has no say he is the interm super so it will change. Imagine next August all middle school parents just show up at 7:15 or dont come at all on day 1. Send a message to the IDIOTS that we arent going to take it. Show me the money it saves in busing they will be what I call CORBITZ numbers ! We all know what useless tissue that is ! Today Multiple buses come to my neighborhood thats 3 for 3 different sets of kids to go to 3 different schools. All the while the bus is no more than half full ever in the day. Waste of money I am telling you CMS you know this.
Were is Bolyn sleeping in ? Come on we need some of your ignorance today its Friday already. Taxpayer
My son goes to a 9:15am school now and next year will go to the 7:15am school. This isn't rocket science. Elem schools 7:45am and 8am start, MS and HS starts from 8-9am at 15 minute intervals. Plug the numbers in, get the bus routes, only provide bus service for kids that actually ride the bus and live over a mile or more from school. Done, you're welcome.
We've used "expense of busing" as the reason to have our kids get up at 5:30AM to catch a bus at 6:15AM to be at school by 7:00AM to start classes (ooops, I mean to go back to sleep, since they didn't get enough last night!) at 7:15AM. And then they get off the bus at 2:45PM to arrive back at home ,,, now FULLY awake and Active. Seems that we've put the priority in the wrong place. What happened to EDUCATION as the primary driving force to our "bell schedule" and everything else. Besides, who ever said we "owe it" to provide FREE transportation to schools? Only in the USA, where "entitlements" have taken over from Common Sense and doing for the GOOD of our overall Society ... and NOT providing for those that should be providing for themselves. Let's relook the ENTIRE busing operation and why it is the driving force for the quality of education for our (still asleep) kids !
A couple of years ago, CMS experimented with the later bell schedule for 2 high schools. It was not a couple of weeks passed and parents started complaining because they were leaving for work before the student left for school and most times, the student would not go to school since no one else was at home pushing them out.
10:40 is right. It was Waddell and Garinger. School started significantly later (90 minutes if I remember right). Academics did not improve, absences rose and coordinating after-school activities with other high schools was a mess. CMS abandoned that plan after a year or two.
We have children at CHMS that is on the 9:15 to 4:15 schedule. I have already taken 14 hours of "vacation" time from my work just to get my children to school early in order for them to make up tests while they were sick and to have tutoring. Never mind the academic clubs I won't let them join becuause they meet in the morning. That would be even more "vacation" time I have to take.
Wiley,
My husband and I wish we had a magnet school close enough to our home for our kids to attend. But we're in the suburbs and apparently only viewed by CMS as a funding source.
Count your blessings, because our elementary school children start @ 7:45AM, our middle schooler @ 9:15AM, and our high schooler @ 7:15AM.
Our elementary school class sizes are ~30 and growing, with only a roaming TA between multiple classes, and a principal who's more interested in Boosterthons to raise funds for SmartBoards than what's taking place in his over-crowded classrooms.
Early bell schedules are good.
They allow the responsible parents and students to manage an appropriate bed time, dismissed early enough to participate in an after school sport/club, on to a job in the evening, and finally a few hours left for homework. Rinse and repeat the next day.
The high school bell experiment was only done at 2 urban schools. Using that logic, how are the 9:15am middle schoolers with working parents making it to school right now? Ridiculous! All CMS high schools should have the 8:15am start time. As my current HS principal and teachers would agree, the 7:15am time is not beneficial or advantageous for our teenage students. Students are worthless in class, sleeping is a daily occurence in most classes. Wake up CMS and do the right thing for our students for the 2013-2014 year.
I assume public schools these days have all gone to adult bus drivers versus how some students were bus drivers back in my days.
I am not sure if liability and other issues drove that change or was it a social services thing to provide jobs to a certain demographic.
Yet another reason to divide CMS into 3 smaller districts. Local leaders would be more in tune with their constituents.
If you're tired of the way CMS treats your family, please sign this petition to tell the NC State Legislature how you feel:
http://www.change.org/petitions/the-north-carolina-state-legislature-divide-cms-into-three-separate-districts-each-with-its-own-taxing-authority
www.facebook.com/SPARKEducationalPerformances
10:52..I live in the suburbs...
That seems to be one of those misnomers that if you don't live in the northern or southern part of the county, you're "urban".
My subdivision was one of the earliest on the westside built back in the early 60's when nothing was out here. I'm just inside the city limits of Charlotte.
I'm 1/2 mile from 485 and near the Whitewater Center so to me, I live in the 'burbs.
And I have stated before, West Meck at one time had over 20 mobile classrooms...
CMS keeps talking about saving money yet keeps throwing more and more into the same black holes year after year.
7:15 worked just fine when we went to high school. You went to bed earlier and you figured out a way to get good grades or you faced dad when he got home.
There was none of the whop-whop-whop of a helicopter parent storming the office to the tune of Ride of the Valkyries because Johnny did get enough sleep because he needed to level up on lotr.
...and if you want to see CMS spend more money and accelrate towards Detroit status, by all means support SPARK's carving CMS up into three zones with taxing authority...
...along with the millions it will cost them to take any such carving up to court.
As I read the variety of thoughts and opinions being expressed regarding this issue, I cannot help but realize that so many of CMS' problems stem from the district trying to satisfy the needs of too many different students and schools.
Rather then beating each other up when our opinions differ, we need to agree upon the root cause of these problems and demand that our elected representatives fix CMS.
I realize that it's not going to be easy, but the only way to solve so many of these issues is to split CMS up into an urban school district and one or two suburban school districts.
This way the federal government can continue their social experimentation in the urban schools, and the suburban schools can keep their tax dollars and stem the Bright Flight that is occurring.
The 9:15-4:15 school bells are terrible! I work about 45 mins (if traffic isn't an issue and I-77 from Cornelius to South Park is always an issue) from my childrens' school. They do not attend magnet schools. The earliest my child can be dropped off is 8:45! How are working parents supposed to get their children to school and then get to work on time? Before you bus-loving-people go crazy . . . her bus is not predictable and when it does come timely, it isn't before I could have her dropped off on my way to work! To make matters more crazy - my son attends high school, less than 1/4 mile away with bell times of 7:15-2:15. No longer are doctor, dental, orthodontist appointments on the same day/time. I have to leave my JOB twice as much to handle these items. Notice I haven't mentioned afterschool activity conflicts, that's because we have worked around those and they are honestly optional things we choose to do, however, my JOB isn't an option . . . I have lots of people depending on me! I curse CMS and its adminstration daily for this stupid choice!
Wiley,
Apparently the burbs you live in needed a "magnet" school to attract students to attend your school.
Since 2007, when CMS lost federal support for the magnet school programs, our schools have lost resources, as evidenced by fewer teacher's assistants, more students per classroom, and Boosterthons every time we turn around to keep our principal's slush fund, oops, I mean our PTA coffers full.
Anon 10:52-I share your pain about the elementary school we share. I'd like to add that the PTA at that school is so out of touch with reality.Everything they do is hidden. Meeting minutes-not online-and meetings held at 9am. As for the principal-he seems to be their puppet. I find it interesting that we have had minimual communication this year. Apathy has set in hard in the south suburbs. Teachers are sick on trying to make do with nothing while the PTA president prides herself on purchasing pedometers. What?
What transportation issues will be solved by splitting the district?
Cheaper bus maintenance? Through streets in neighborhoods instead of everything being a dead end cul-de-sac? Or walkable streets within a mile of a school? Or maybe splitting the district is able to fold space and time so no one is the farthest from their school?
How will splitting the district result in lower transportation costs?
FROM WC..and if you want to see CMS spend more money and accelrate towards Detroit status, by all means support SPARK's carving CMS up into three zones with taxing authority...
...along with the millions it will cost them to take any such carving up to court.
Wiley Coyote,
Why so much hatred and negativity towards a group that is attempting to make a change? Why so much anger towards people that are not complaining; rather, they are actually attempting to FIX/CHANGE the situation?
Do you have a better idea? I think everyone hear would love to hear it.
I keep going back to the phrase:
"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."
The reality is life isn't what it was 20-30 years ago when some of you "Charlotteans" attended 7:15am schools. Less stressful daily life, more parents were able to stay home, you didn't have AP classes, or Facebook, or cell phones, or sport/scout activities that kept you out until 9:30pm, etc... I agree with most of these posters, the bell schedules don't make a lot of sense for students or parents. I don't think they're whining, they are all trying to make it work. But, the family and the STUDENTS suffer the most. Ironic isn't it?
Anon 11:27
Splitting the district will reduce the physical and pyschological distances that currently exist between the parents and the school administration. It will allow the various districts to focus on satisfying the specific needs of their students, rather then the attitude that currently exists, which was best highlighted in an email I received from my middle schooler principal which said "each child is entitled to a FREE education". This was in response to my email expressing concerns about a disruptive child my daughter had had in her class two years in a row, who required CMS to place a security guard in the classroom, yet was not removed from the classroom for behavior that was detrimental to everyone involved.
11:24...
West Meck's student population has been over 2,000 at times and the magnet certainly wasn't the ruse to "fill the school". "Diversity" may hve been a reason.
The language magnet at West Meck has about 100 students in it so no, they didn't "need a magnet to get students".
Anon @ 11:27am,
Imagine a new, smaller district, with a smaller Board, that actually lives in the area and understands the needs and concerns of the residents there. A Board that would actually LISTEN to its constituents. A Board that had two-year terms, to provide better accountability to the taxpayers of the district.
Now imagine a new district, that could look into cheaper, better and faster opportunities for issues like busing, cafeteria services, student assignment and boundaries.
Imagine a Board with the ability to communicate better and more often.
One size does not fit all in Mecklenburg County. Smaller districts could concentrate on the individual needs of that smaller area.
Do you think the current system of the BOCC is working right now? They levy the property taxes across all 500 square miles of this County, and then pass approximately 50% of these funds directly to CMS, without ANY accountability for how CMS spends these funds.
Isn't it just crazy when a school's bell schedule just doesn't match up with your job schedule. Let's change everything just for you and raise my taxes to support increased busing just so you don't have to pay for before and after school care.
Please, tell me where I should send the check?
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/02/10/2999431/corrections-and-clarifications.html wow!
It would help the community if CMS got the 2 hour bus window down to 1.75 or 1.5 hours (start times currently 7:15-9:15, end times 2:15- 4:15pm).
Isn't it interesting how sending some CMS school children beyond their neighborhood schools results in bell schedules that are creating havoc in CMS homes across the district.
Many school districts across the country charge a fee for transportation. Why doesn't CMS? If you child attends a nearby magnet, like WC's so be it! No extra expense. And when a family "chooses" to send their child to a magnet school across town, they should bear the additional cost(s) instead of the CMS Transportation Department indirectly placing that burden on so many other CMS families with these crazy bell schedules.
I think many posters have forgotten the CMS is (wants to be) an "urban" district not a metropolitan one.
Anon 12:03, I haven't forgotten that for a second. Thank you though for putting that out there as you have, bc that is the issue!
We're not an urban district only, yet we're acting like one, bc the inner city crowd scares the county and district leadership so badly that no one wants to take a stand that might enrage them.
You can bet your bottom dollar that this next year's CMS budget will be chocked full of "candy" for the inner city crowd.
Continues CMS BOE bias against Matthews. Naming Crestdale & Butler was to show the people of Matthews that minorities rule BOE.
It's not only Matthews! It's any school near or outside the I485 loop!
The tail (busing) is wagging the cat (educating children).
11:28...
My "negativity" is not against anyone or group who wants to make a change. My issue against the change is that they are not looking at the bigger picture and history of this area and will spend time and money pursuing a pipe dream.
Keep reminding yourself that Charlotte is still in the South and only 10 years removed busing.
About 6 years ago, this same issue popped up.
Here's the link to a story about this issue at the time titled:
Pressed by a New Invasion of Yankees, Schools of the New South Resegregate
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1434102/posts
Here is what Richard McElrath, current BOE member said at the time:
"It's `I, I, I, me, me, me,"' said Richard McElrath, a retired teacher and founder of Parents United for Education. In his view, Huntersville's hunger for more schools or its own district would consign children of the poor -- black and now also Hispanic -- to increasing isolation in the city.
Which way do you think he will vote on a split district?
Regardless of what SPARK believes or I believe, the underlying issue is getting out of the past and into the future.
The problem with anyone or group being able to do that is government and educrats.
Public education and the majority of funding is predicated on what?
School lunches and who and how many are on the NSLP school districts cannot fully audit.
Until that is totally overhauled, nothing can be fixed and money will continue to be wasted.
I believe that CMS CAN manage the entire district efficiently but the political correctness and diversity crowds refuse to allow it.
At the end of the day, every single child in CMS has to know who the First President of the United States is. Answers to those questions know no skin color, household income or zipcode.
Find out who needs the extra help by strict audits of programs, make all schools as even as possible with technology and infrastructure, get out of the social services business, demand accountability from parents for their children and educate the kids.
Sadly, the tail killed the cat. All that remains is a dead cat's tail.
I live 4 miles away from the HS. The bus enters the subdivision more than 1 hour before classes start. We get an extra hour of sleep by driving to school. Ever wonder why so many buses are so empty and the roads in front of schools are jammed?
Good point - it means the cost per student who actually takes the bus is actually much higher.
Anne, Do you have any idea whether the CMS transportation costs per student are based upon the number of students who request busing, or the actual number who use the bus?
2:18, not 100 percent sure what numbers are being referenced, but my best memory is that when CMS generated those numbers for magnets and nonmagnets it was based on actual riders.
Amelia S-W has zero credibility. No matter what she says she was chosen because she will always support the center city views. During her Monday appearance I was amazed how little she knows about CMS.
From WC:
My issue against the change is that they are not looking at the bigger picture and history of this area and will spend time and money pursuing a pipe dream.
Why is trying to gain local accountability a "pipe dream"?
Keep reminding yourself that Charlotte is still in the South and only 10 years removed busing.
So what? Is what CMS is doing now working?
About 6 years ago, this same issue popped up.
And it was a good idea back then, too.
Here is what Richard McElrath, current BOE member said at the time:
"It's `I, I, I, me, me, me,"' said Richard McElrath, a retired teacher and founder of Parents United for Education. In his view, Huntersville's hunger for more schools or its own district would consign children of the poor -- black and now also Hispanic -- to increasing isolation in the city.
Which way do you think he will vote on a split district?
It's not up to the CMS School Board. It's a decision to be made by the NC Legislature. If the CMS Board was responsive to the ENTIRE County's needs, do you think a movement like SPARK would even be necessary?
Regardless of what SPARK believes or I believe, the underlying issue is getting out of the past and into the future.
Completely agree with this.
I believe that CMS CAN manage the entire district efficiently but the political correctness and diversity crowds refuse to allow it.
Complete agree.
At the end of the day, every single child in CMS has to know who the First President of the United States is. Answers to those questions know no skin color, household income or zipcode.
Completely agree.
Find out who needs the extra help by strict audits of programs, make all schools as even as possible with technology and infrastructure, get out of the social services business, demand accountability from parents for their children and educate the kids.
Completely agree.
But the problem remains, that the CMS Board of Education and the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce and whoever else is running things behind the scenes, will never allow any of this to happen.
Enter SPARK, stage right.
Ameila poor sole she got thrown under the bus by Morgan and she will vote with them DEMS as a slave no issue. She has not clue thats why they love HER !
Anon. 2:18. I believe the bus numbers are for "eligible" riders, not actual riders, so the funding from the state is greater due to the eligible number, not actual ridership number. 50% of our school population in S. charlotte does carpool anyway, so all those buses driving around here are underutilized. The HS is even more, probably 60-70% of students drive/carpool. Cut the number of buses on the road CMS! that's a good place to start.
Can there be "recall election" of poor, clueless Amelia W-S?
LOL.
SORRY: S-W.
So difficult to keep hyphens straight.
A higher % would take the bus if it didn't come more than an hour before class starts.
...and then the bus sits in the HS lot for 20 minutes before it can begin unloading students at 6:45am.
I concur with the high school hours discussion. I am also a little tired of the anecdotal comments that it didn't work in Charlotte. They tried it with THE WORST SCHOOLS in the city. And it didn't work. What a shock. Little does. So we should continue to have an environment of exhausted kids because a certain population used it as an excuse not to go to school?
Wiley,
The foreign language magnet is a typical CMS joke that needs to be put out of its misery. When South Meck opened its version every parent at Smith had a way out of Tuckaseegee Rd. Even the head of the Language program left to go teach in the mountains while her daughter escaped to teach in another county. I've seen former students create addresses in Belmont attending South Point to avoid WM. All that laughing at Gaston County seems to be pretty hollow now. It doesn't matter what time the buses pull up when as a teacher you know you're going to be verbally assaulted as an Fnnnnnng B by a twice pregnant sixteen year old and friends all day long. Project Lift? Project Dump is more like it. You know, you've suffered through the entire quagmire.
NO DATA!
NO PEACE!
Anon 7:33...
Not sure how you can say the language magnet is a joke.
How many foreign languages do you speak and write fluently?
When I went to school, it was mandatory to take a language for one year.
Over the past 30 years, many school districts no longer require a second language to graduate.
THAT is the joke.
My son reads, writes and fluently speaks Spanish and Japanese and has a working knowledge of about 5 others. He was also one of 6 students two years ago who went to Japan for two weeks representing two CMS schools, South and West Meck.
My son also took Honors and AP courses at West Meck throughout his 4 years there and never had any trouble during that time.
The kinds of verball assaults you mention can and do happen in many schools, including where Biff and Buffy go to school.
My wife graduated from West Meck.
It's a shame your experiences were horrible.
And by the way, Project LIFT is a West Charlotte and not a West Meck program.
WC, that's wonderful about your son. My kids couldn't get into the language immersion school, so while your son is learning multiple languages, my kids get stuck in the suburbs with 40+ kid in their high school classes, the middle school school kids get bussed, not to one of the 2 middle schools 1 mile away, but to the one 6 miles away, and the elementary students get 30 kids in each class and technology bought by the PTA because CMS won't provide them with any.
Wonder why the suburbs want to split the district?
And who knows if splitting would work, but it might be better than what we've got!
Anon 9:28..
Not sure which language magnet your child couldn't get into, unless it was at South Meck.
West Meck had no wait list and Waddell only had waits in a few languages at different grade levels.
Why would your child be bused 6 miles away from your home that has a middle school a mile away?
This whole "suburbs" argument people keep talking about is somewhat comical.
West Meck is only a couple of hundred yards inside the city limits and 2.9 miles from the Gaston County line, yet the southern part of the county is more inside the city of Charlotte than my area. One street over from my house is in the county.
So who is really in the "suburbs"?
5:05pm Thank you for your comments about High school hours. I have always thought that too when there was discussion that "we tried changing the HS hours but it didn't work." That is a joke. Try it again for the 2013-2014 and 2014 -2015 school years for Ardrey Kell, Butler and Providence and then tell us the results. Happier, healthier, more alert teens that actually eat breakfast before school equals better grades and better behavior at school.
Wiley, I'm pretty sure I know exactly which middle school 9:28's child is being bussed to. Crestdale, on Sam Newell, is a long way (6 or more miles) from neighborhoods off of Providence Road, south of 51, while Robinson and South Charlotte are probably both within 2 and 1/2 miles. Yet Crestdale is their assigned middle school.
The neighborhood across the street from Calvary Church on Hwy. 51 is assigned to Myers Park H.S.
What's the additional yearly cost of busing kids to a "neighborhood" high school that is further away than 2 other high schools in closer proximity?
Do split-feeds add to busing costs? South Meck. High has a least 4 middle schools that split-feed into it. (South Charlotte MS, Community House MS, Carmel MS, Quail Hollow MS). Quail Hollow may full feed into South Meck. this year with the closing of Waddell - I don't know. The entire assignment plan at South Meck. is piece meal before a partial magnet located at the school is taken into consideration.
How many elementary schools split-feed in south Charlotte?
Off the top of my head - McAlpine, Olde Providence, Endhaven and I think Pineville. These schools then split-feed into Carmel MS, South Charlotte MS, Community House MS and Quail Hollow MS which then split-feed into South Meck. HS, Providence HS, Myers Park HS and Ardrey Kell HS.
I think "split-feeds" should be on the standardized pay-for-performance school board test. I'm not sure the student assignment office could pass this test. I think CMS should distribute a split-feed map that community members can color. Better yet, why not make it into a contest?! How many CMS split-feeds can you identify? The winner gets free bus transportation to any school that starts at 8:15 AM in the district.
I attended an inter-district magnet high school in New Haven, CT. My home district required my parents to pay transportation costs to and from school. Other districts provided free transportation. The magnet school I attended ran from 1:00 - 4:00 PM. Between 8:00 and 12:00, I attended my home school to complete core subject areas. The magnet school I attended was the best experience of my life and helped shape the entire course of my post high school existence. I'm a huge fan of magnet schools that work. However, I'm of the opinion that CMS has too many magnet schools. I think magnet schools should be consolidated in centralized areas with a focus on making each the best it can be. I think some magnet schools should be closed and turned into neighborhood schools. I think additional transportation costs to and from magnet schools should be paid by families on a sliding scale basis. Students who can't behave themselves and can't maintain a minimum GPA should be required to return to their home school. Just my 2 cents on the subject.
Long live The Educational Center for the Arts! New Haven, CT.
- class of 81.
If your going to have magnets, parents should not be anymore responsible for transportation costs than neighborhood schools.
Centrally locate the magnets and expand the most popular ones.
According to the second lottery for this year, there are 17,787 seated and 4,327 waiting. Only 7 magnets makeup the overwhelming majority of programs with waitlists.
If you're going to have sports, all children should be able to play for free.
We're still paying $11 million per year from the County ($21 million overall) on Bright beginnings for about 3,000 students.
We also know the school lunch program has thousands more kids on it than qualify, wasting millions per year.
wiley, why are you so against a fee for Magnet busing? It's happening all over the country and it sounds like a fair and reasonable thing to do. Again, it is a choice to attend those schools.
Because magnets have been used for integration going back to 1992. The only thing that changed was that several parents sued and won against CMS in the late 90's over the quota system used to determine who got into magnets.
Whether other districts charge for magnet transportation is a moot point. Other districts charge tuition to get into a magnet.
I contend that magnets are part of the education experience and therefore tranportation should be provided.
This from Maryland last year:
...Lawyers for the state agree, saying that the Maryland Court of Appeals has ruled that transportation should go to all children as part of government-mandated school access.
If the end goal here is to save money - which it is - then disallow busing to home/neighborhood schools within a one mile radius. Some school districts have a 2 mile radius.
Doesn't that sound like a fair and reasonable thing to do?
Lots of selfishness in these posts....we must change the bell schedule to fit my demands. I don't care what's best for the district overall, only what's best for my center-of-the-universe child.
Fact: the number of parents who have signed a petition or called in complaints is still less than 15% of the entire CMS student population.
Someone please explain why 15% of the parents should be allowed to dictate policy for everyone else?
And since just about everyone else on here has to post as anonymous to write their ill-informed opinions I will too - so there.
11:46 Just curious where your 15% number came from? Are you just speaking of one school community? CMS is contacted weekly by parents who question (on their own) the district's bell schedules/bus routes, etc. Are you privy to these phone calls and e-mails as well?
And WC, I agree that CMS should expand the NO Tranportation zone to over 1 mile. Would save a lot of money and most districts in the country are already doing this.
Crestdale Parents....and any other parents who think that CMS is too large and not responsive enough to the needs of the community...please go to www.change.org/petitions/the-north-carolina-state-legislature-pilot-program-divide-cms-into-3-districts-each-with-own-taxing-authority
Sign the petition to implement a pilot program that will split CMS into three, smaller, more effective school districts.
Did you know that the State of NC allots over $5100 per student in State funding alone - yet Crestdale gets only $4736 per pupil. Or how about Community House Middle at just $3965 per pupil. Or Mint Hill Middle at $4472.
Here's a novel concept. Instead of having Magnet Schools, why not have "Magnet Programs" at all schools. Why is it we are still forced to live in the one size fits all world of public schools. There is no reason why wing "A" can't be a "traditional" magnet wing and wing "B" can't be a "Montessori" magnet and wing "C" can't be a "STEM" magnet, all housed in the same school.
Well there is a reason, and it is called lack of creativity and lack of vision on the part of the Board of Education and the CMS Staff.
And that's the bottom line....
As a teacher, I can only tell you that the middle schol students I teach are done in by 3:00 or so. The late bell schedule has led to more teachers taking time off for doctor's appointments, etc. Change the bell schedules back - it's better for the students and the teachers.
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