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Title : Let the Mayor/City Council Know You Want Two Tiers
link : Let the Mayor/City Council Know You Want Two Tiers
Let the Mayor/City Council Know You Want Two Tiers
From Liza Rankin at Soup for Teachers:Apparently, the Mayor is considering contributing the one-time cost of $2.3M from the city’s coffers to make it happen. If the money is committed by May 1, SPS will be able to implement a two-tier bell schedule for THIS FALL and spare us from a 7:40am tier one start and a 3:50pm tier three end time. Please write to the mayor and your city council members to encourage them to contribute this money to benefit students and families in every SPS community!
Here is my letter to Mayor Ed Murray (http://ift.tt/1KtIFqr) and to the Seattle City Council members (lisa.herbold@seattle.gov, bruce.harrell@seattle.gov, kshama.sawant@seattle.gov, rob.johnson@seattle.gov, debora.juarez@seattle.gov, mike.obrien@seattle.gov, sally.bagshaw@seattle.gov, tim.burgess@seattle.gov, lorena.gonzalez@seattle.gov):Dear Mayor Murray / Council Member,
I am a parent of a 1st grader and a 3rd grader at Leschi Elementary and the legislative chair for our school.
At my kids’ school, about 70 of our 400 kids are homeless. These kids are eligible for free breakfast and lunch. However, this year when our start time changed from 8:40 to 7:55, kids had a much harder time showing up for breakfast. More students are being served breakfast after the bell either rushing/or carrying food to class and not having the full benefit of breakfast time. As a consequence, we have a lot more hungry kids at our school. As I’m sure you know, kids not getting enough to eat has a dramatic impact on learning, behavior, and overall development, and impacts not just the kids who aren’t eating, but everyone at the school.
This earlier start time is having a huge negative impact on our school, and the current plan for is for school to start even earlier next year, which will make it even worse.
Seattle Public Schools currently has a 3-tier system for start times, which requires some schools to start way too early and some schools to start way too late, creating a hardship for families who have to get up extremely early to get to school, or who don’t have time for homework or after-school programs because their school gets out so late.
A 2-tier system would work much better for families, but would require extra money for additional busses. There is currently a proposal for the city of Seattle to contribute the one-time cost of $2.3 million to switch to a 2-tier system. Because the state bases its transportation budget on last year’s budget, the state would cover all additional costs beyond the first year.
Please, for my family and for many others in Seattle Public Schools, support the one-time cost of a switch to a 2-tier system.
Here are a few of the many reasons you should support this one-time expenditure:
– current bell times have come with a number of unanticipated challenges that will only be exacerbated with the additional 20 min being added to the school day next year
– three tiers creates equity issues for elementary schools
– this year’s bell times had a big impact on family schedules and child care availability
– logistics of three tiers have an impact on city traffic
– 90% of the elementary schools that switched to an earlier 7:55 start time this year had an increase in tardies – 7:40 will be even worse
– enrichment opportunity and field and space availability for middle and high school kids has been negatively impacted and will be more so if we have a 3:50 release time
– bus drivers have faced hardships with this year’s schedule in their ability to get enough hours per week to qualify as full time and receive benefits, although the beginning and end of their work days got farther apart.
– two tiers will benefit families in all school communities across all demographics, in every part of the city
– three tiers creates equity issues for elementary schools
– this year’s bell times had a big impact on family schedules and child care availability
– logistics of three tiers have an impact on city traffic
– 90% of the elementary schools that switched to an earlier 7:55 start time this year had an increase in tardies – 7:40 will be even worse
– enrichment opportunity and field and space availability for middle and high school kids has been negatively impacted and will be more so if we have a 3:50 release time
– bus drivers have faced hardships with this year’s schedule in their ability to get enough hours per week to qualify as full time and receive benefits, although the beginning and end of their work days got farther apart.
– two tiers will benefit families in all school communities across all demographics, in every part of the city
Sincerely,
Me
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