Aug 19, 2009 3 min read

Parents and students in the Laurel Highlands School District are voicing their displeasure with the district’s announcement that it will be adding time to the school day. A group of parents and children attended Tuesday’s school board work session and vowed to bring more parents to Thursday’s school board meeting over a schedule they say will have their children going and coming from school in the dark during the winter months. Many of the families live in the mountain communities and their children attend Marshall Elementary School. “There are a lot of people who are really upset about the kindergarten students and the elementary students getting up so early to get ready for school,” said Patrick Livingston, whose grandchildren attend Marshall.

A school district news release stated that the start time at Marshall would be 8:30 a.m., with dismissal from 3:38 until 3:45. Parents said their children used to start school at 8:55, so the change was more than adding 15 minutes to the end of the day that the district stated.

Jessica Scott, the district’s director of federal programs, said 8:30 is when the teachers must report, but homeroom for the students begins at 8:45 a.m.

“The students are going to get more time for lunch and more time for recreation, plus 15 minutes more instructional time,” Scott said.

That answer didn’t satisfy the families.

“You’re doing this for the kids, but what about the family time?” said Laureen Livingston. “You did this with the teachers. Why weren’t the parents involved in this discussion?”

Felicia Yauger, a high school junior who lives in the mountain area, said a change of even a few minutes in the bus schedule, making it earlier in the morning or later in the afternoon, can be a big difference for the school buses in her neighborhood.

“It’s different in the mountain. Those roads get really bad,” Yauger said.

School director Jim Tobal said he was baffled by the reaction of the parents.

“Our concern is education. I think we’re giving your children something you should appreciate. We had one of the shortest school days in the Intermediate Unit 1. We’re doing for your kids,” Tobal told the parents.

“It’s not that we doubt that you think you’re doing the right thing, but you have to consider the parents as well,” Laureen Livingston said. “Maybe you would have made the same decision, but at least we would have felt we had some input.”

Later in the meeting Dr. Gary Brain, the district superintendent, noted that the longer class day puts the district over the required state minimum for instructional hours, allowing what would have been school days to be used for staff development days. It was noted that students would have five full days off school due to the staff development, and an additional seven days with early dismissals. The full days will be on Oct 12, Nov. 3, Jan. 13, and May 26, while the early dismissals will be on Sept. 15, Nov. 12, Nov. 25, Dec. 22, Feb. 12, March 18 and April 1.

In other matters, the board was asked by high school band director Mark Santore to repaint football field markings on the high school parking lot so it can be used for band practices. Board president Angelo Giachetti said he has received complaints about vehicles being blocked from entering the lot and he is concerned that having the band practice on the lot presents a safety hazard. Other board members said there is a need for district facilities to be used in multiple ways to accommodate all of the extracurricular programs in the district. The matter will come before the board for a vote on Thursday.