guster Wrote:
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> Vague, ambiguous comments like "I agree that no
> matter what we try our teenagers still can't fall
> asleep before 11:00pm" (poster "Vienna") mean
> little. This cannot possibly be a fact for every
> single household with teens in FCPS, nor in the
> entire world. In many countries, basic survival
> is tough enough that they do not agonize about the
> particulars of sleep. They know they need it, and
> they get as much as they can, which is what any
> practical person will do.
>
> If some people have teens with sleep problems,
> they should first try to change their own
> priorities *within their families* before
> resorting to county-wide changes across the entire
> elementary, middle, and high school schedules.
>
> No one here has mentioned concerns about schedule
> changes jeopardizing their teens future sports
> careers. After-school sports practices certainly
> will be affected, particularly for the middle
> school students being dismissed at 4:30pm. Many
> students won't be home until 5pm or later. Right
> on time for rush hour traffic!
>
> After-school programs serving middle school
> students will end at many middle schools,
> particularly those serving more economically
> disadvantaged students. There will be no programs
> added in the morning before classes to make up for
> this loss. No one in favor of SLEEP seems
> interested in what these middle school students
> will lose.
>
> This is not serving the greatest number of
> students in Fairfax County. It benefits a
> few--Langley, McLean, Lake Braddock get the most
> added time.
>
> It seems that SLEEP attempts to change the
> schedule to benefit the well-connected, elite
> minority in a few select areas (like Langley H.S.,
> with its far-flung boundary) at the expense of the
> FCPS students in the middle and elementary schools
> across the county. Then they present this poorly
> thought out plan as the act of a benevolent team
> brought together to unselfishly improve the lives
> of all the people of the county.
>
> Perspective on the middle school programs:
>
>
http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/letter/1540/
>
> Not one SLEEP activist addresses the adverse
> affect the change will have on the middle school
> schedule, nor the elementary students who will be
> starting at 7:50am. The focus has been solely on
> the high school schedule.
>
> My student is at TJ (start time 8:30am) but still
> must be out the door by 7am to catch the bus to
> the departure point. Langley and McLean get the
> best schedules for the TJ buses, from what I've
> been told. The parents insist on being the top
> priority.
Your posts have been interesting and I wholeheartedly agree about Langley and its' "far-flung" boundary as you put in. Langley was one of the most contentious issues during the redistricting fight last year. Anyway back to the point, it will not work well at all with the middle school proposed bell schedule. No way. Numer one is working parents particulary single working parents who are unable to adjust their work schedules to fit the proposed bell schedule and secondly, middle schoolers (not all though) do have activities after school such as sports and clubs like Girls Scouts or Boys Scouts. I do not understand why the SLEEP activists conveniently continue to ignore the elementary and middle school kids' needs. If Langley was able to get what they wanted from the redistricting, then they can get what they want, by providing their own school bus drivers and buses and McLean can follow suit, not at the expense of uprooting the rest of Fairfax County with just an extra hour later time change.