The Newtonite Friday, Jan. 20, 2017 • Volume 95
Newton North High School, 457 Walnut St., Newtonville, Mass. 02460
School responds to late start initiative
Wendy Li W h e n j u n i o r Ja m e s H o b e n wrote his sophomore speech on the advantages of later high school start times, he found that teenagers have difficulty falling asleep early, so “even if it ends with me getting home later, it still takes the same amount of time to do homework. I think I would end up taking less time to fall asleep.” Over the past year, the school committee’s High School Start Time Working Group has been gathering community feedback in Newton about later start times through presentations, surveys, and forums. After several surveys, students and faculty at North voiced a variety of concerns regarding a district-wide start time change. Junior Jessica Chen, a student -athlete on the indoor track team, expressed worry about a possible delay in winter sports practices after school. “I think I need more sleep, and a later start time would make more sense, simply for my health,” said Chen, “but it gets dark outside before we finish our run. When we’re almost coming back, it’s sort of pitch black already. I guess having an even later start time might not be too practical for sports.” The American Academy of Pediatrics states that it is hard for adolescents to fall asleep before 11 p.m. because of their natural sleep cycles, increasing risk of car accidents, physical and mental health problems, and decline in academic performance. According to Ellen Gibson, one of two school committee members on the working group, common concerns about changing the start time included budget changes for school bus services, before and after school childcare for elementary students, and afterschool activities for high schoolers. Students who participate in theatre productions also expressed concern about reduced extracurricular time. “I’m a big fan of sleep and starting school later, but that would push back afterschool activities so much that I don’t know if I would still be a fan,” said sophomore Rene Miller, an active member of Theatre Ink. Junior Jonathan Champion, another Theatre Ink participant, wo r r i e s t h a t l a t e r s t a r t t i m e s could “possibly lower the quality of productions” if rehearsals are shortened. Champion also considered the impact on student life during production weeks, when students are required to stay at school as late as 10:30 p.m. “Often with two to three hours of homework, it would get to a point where it’s very, very late into the night,” said Champion, adding that a later start would affect people’s social lives and productivity in school and extracurriculars. The district is “very aware of how important school connectedness is for by
adolescents,” said Gibson, “and so we want to make sure that students could still have the opportunity to do their afterschool athletics, or clubs, or theatre.” Members of the faculty also expressed concerns with the possibility of a later start time. “The survey is bringing out the issue of teenagers needing more sleep, and I know that it is an important issue, but there are many different ways to deal with the issue. Changing the time may not be the best option,” says science teacher Sangeet Srikanth, a mother of both high school and elementary school students in the Newton public schools. One of Srikanth's major concerns is morning traffic for faculty members. “There are very few teachers teaching in this building who are from Newton,” she said, “and for all the teachers who travel so far to come to school, the traffic is going to become a very big issue.” Tr a f f i c a r o u n d N o r t h i s backed up by 7:30 a.m. or 7:45 a.m. already, and Srikanth doesn’t “see how that situation would get any better” with “office-goers and everyone else already on the road.”
sophomore Rene Miller “I’m a big fan of sleep and starting school later, but that would push back afterschool activities so much that I don’t know if I would still be a fan.” Gibson voiced similar thoughts, saying, “I don’t think there is a silver bullet. I don’t think there’s an easy answer. I think if there was an easy answer, districts all across the country would be doing this.” She added, “It is not likely that we are going to be doing anything for next year because the logistics of this, for a district our size, are very substantial.” After gathering feedback, the High School Start Time Working Group developed six scenarios for adjusting school start times and asked for feedback from the community. A full presentation detailing each scenario's predicted bus costs, effects on grade levels, and potential increase of sleep opportunity is available on the Newton Public Schools website. School committee members will meet next Monday, Jan. 23 to consider several scenarios that each propose a different time change. According to Gibson, the committee will either decide to proceed with a scenario immediately, or to collect more data and feedback from the Newton Public Schools community. If the school committee agrees to implement changes for the next school year, several meetings will finalize the plan before budget planning is completed in March.
Josh Shub-Seltzer
Junior Chris Matthews drives for a basket in the 65-48 victory against Waltham at TD Garden Sunday, Jan. 8.
Trump’s pro-charter stance clashes with state’s ‘No’ vote on Prop 2 Emily Moss Just two weeks after Massachusetts voters struck down a measure to raise the cap on charter schools, presidentelect Donald Trump nominated as his Secretar y of Education one of the strongest pro-charter advocates in the nation. Now, in the wake of an election that has sent shockwaves throughout the country, many Americans—including here in Newton—fear that the face of K-12 education could change drastically over the next four years. “Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education and people that support charters and vouchers don’t think education is a public good,” said Newton Teachers Association president Michael Zilles. “They think education should be treated like a car: you get what you pay for.” Education secretary nominee Betsy DeVos has proposed awarding government funds to private and parochial schools through a voucher system in which children would be permitted to attend at a reduced cost. In her home state of Michigan, she has also advocated the replacement of traditional public schools with charter schools—tuition-free, public schools that receive a special degree of autonomy. While the notion of vouchers bears little resemblance to any prior national policy, the charter question has long been a point of controversy. Proponents argue that charter schools—with their innovative teaching and management methods—offer top-tier educational opportunities to students who would otherwise languish in troubled district schools. Those who oppose charters, such as Zilles, say that these schools by
siphon money from traditional public schools, create hostile environments for English as a Second Language (ESL) students and special needs students, and lead to de facto segregation within districts. In a state where popular views on education are now at odds with those of national policymakers, the question of how charter schools fit into the equation remains pressing. The issue does not fall neatly along party lines, and Newton residents have expressed mixed feelings.
Consequences for Newton In the weeks and months leading up to election day, Proposition 2 (Prop 2) became an important topic of conversation among students and teachers. Prop 2 would have “allow[ed] the State Board of Education to approve up to 12 new or expanded public charter schools a year” had the measure passed, according to CBS Boston. Senior Gregory Brumberg, a student representative to the School Committee, recalled that his history teacher had worn a shirt or button expressing opposition to Prop 2 and that he and his teacher had discussed the matter together. “I asked him why, and I said, ‘I know that’s the view I’m supposed to have—can you explain to me why I’m supposed to have that?’” Brumberg recounted. “And he explained to me how it [the emergence of charter schools] was taking away funding.” Following his teacher’s advice, Brumberg ultimately voted “no” on Prop 2. Yet Brumberg said he doubts that a “yes” verdict would have had any direct impact on Newton students.
“A lot of my friends had the same thought that I did—that charter schools take away funds from public schools. But I think that’s a little bit misguided because the bill gives priority to charter schools that would open up in under-achieving districts,” he said. “So I just feel like students weren’t quite informed about that because it wouldn’t necessarily be taking away from Newton Public Schools.” Brumberg is correct that Newton has not yet become home to any charter schools. However, Zilles said that if Prop 2 had passed, the measure would have “made the emergence of a charter school in our district very likely. They would have tried to open a ‘boutique’ charter, like a language immersion school or a STEM or STEAM school,” he said. Moreover, individual school districts lack jurisdiction on the charter question, since decisions take place at the state level. “It wouldn’t have mattered if the Newton School Committee had said, ‘we can’t afford that,” Zilles explained. “We would have had to pay for it.”
The funding question The root of Zilles’ concern about affordability lies with the fact that charters receive funding on a perpupil basis: if a student in a given district chooses to attend a charter school rather than a traditional public school, the charter school receives a sum of money equivalent to the average cost of educating a student in a public school. In turn, the public school loses that same sum of money. ◆ continued on page 10
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