By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net
More than 50 parents, students and neighbors attended a meeting at Davidson IB Middle School last night, many objecting to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ plan to replace neighborhood buses with regional shuttles and push back the start of the school day by 90 minutes next year.
CMS Chief operating officer Hugh Hattabaugh was at Wednesday’s meeting to answer questions and outline the proposed changes, which will come up for a school board vote on Tuesday, May 11. District 1 school board representative Rhonda Lennon also attended, and though she initially said she was there only to listen, she told parents about halfway through the 2-hour meeting that she will put forward a motion Tuesday to throw out the bell-schedule change.
Hugh Hattabaugh of CMS speaks to the crowd Tuesday. Davidson IB Middle School principal Jo Karney listens. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)
Mr. Hattabaugh said the bus changes are part of a broader effort to reduce per-student transportation costs at the system’s magnet schools, which are among the highest in North Carolina.
Transportation to regular schools in the system costs about $400 per student, he said, compared with $1,500 at Davidson IB. He said the proposed shift to a shuttle system would allow the district to “park” 40 buses, share buses between multiple schools, and save $1.6 million annually on fuel, maintenance and driver pay.
OBJECTIONS TO LATER START
A series of speakers told Mr. Hattabaugh they’re concerned the later start and end to the school day will limit their children’s time for homework and could all but eliminate students’ ability to participate in after-school activities. Others said the later school day would be a hardship for working parents. And some worried about the safety of having children wait at three shuttle drop-off locations – two of which are at high schools.
Parents sounded frustrated and angry at the proposed changes, which were announced last week.
“Your proposal you’ve put in is very draconian,” said one man.
Parent Jenny Langford of Davidson complained that the proposal came up too quickly and too late, after many parents had made their decisions about next year. (School officials said parents will have a chance to change their magnet requests.)
“I know the goal is to save money and I appreciate that,” Ms. Langford said. But she said Davidson IB School is taking a “double whammy” by having both bus and schedule changes. She asked if the school would consider an alternative shuttle arrangement – having kids take buses to their neighborhood schools to meet shuttles, instead of requiring parents to drive them to regional drop-off locations.
The change would push the school day from the current 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. schedule to 9:30 to 4:30 p.m. – the latest school day in CMS. Said one woman, “This leaves out any extracurricular activities. … You’re giving up any other social activities they could have. That’s an important part of being a kid.”
Another said: “Some of these children won’t get home until 6 o’clock at night and they have 2 to 3 hours of homework every night. It’s meaningful homework, but it’s a lot of work. But it’s going to be hard.
Mr. Hattabaugh suggested students needed to do “time utilization – they may have to do homework early in the morning.” That drew a big laugh from the crowd.
Suzanne Churchill of South Street wondered if the school system could consider an earlier bell schedule, rather than later, to preserve time for sports and other activities. She also wondered if CMS had discussed joining forces with Charlotte Area Transit System for some kind of collaboration on busing.
Mr. Hattabaugh said CMS and CATS have been talking, but CATS is unable to adjust its routes to accommodate schools. But he said the head of CATS and Superintendent Peter Gorman would be making “a joint statement about that” soon.
Elizabeth Morgan, who lives in the Davidson IB neighborhood and plans to send her son to the school next year, said, “We need to revisit our mission. Our kids are not going to have time for anything.”
Several parents said the later school day would hit working families hard. “A lot of households have working parents,” said one parent from Charlotte. “Who’s paying attention to our children?” she asked.
Davidson IB principal Jo Karney said CMS plans to offer a new before-school program at Davidson IB to accommodate working families. Registration would be $25, plus $25 a week. Care also would be available on teacher work days, though at another school. At least 20 students would be needed to start the program.
Mr. Hattabaugh said the school system hopes parents don’t decide to move their students out of Davidson IB because of the changes. But he noted that changes will be allowed until June 4.
BUS CHANGES
Mr. Hattabaugh opened Wednesday’s meeting by describing the proposed changes.
Under the CMS proposal, students living within a 5-mile radius of the school would continue to be eligible for regular busing, he said. Those outside the zone would switch to shuttles that would pick up and drop off students at three designated locations: Hopewell High School, North Mecklenburg High School and Paw Creek Elementary School.
School officials said 41 Davidson IB students live within the 5-mile zone, while 193 live outside.
Some parents asked how the 5-mile zone was chosen and wondered if it could be shifted.
Another concern about the later start was that the 9:30 start time was too close to the 9:15 start at nearby Davidson Elementary, also on South Street. Mr. Hattabaugh said school officials had considered that concern, and don’t think it will be a problem, because buses arrive at Davidson Elementary in a “window” between 8:45 and 9.
LENNON DOESN’T LIKE BELL SCHEDULE
After listening to parents’ concerns for about an hour, Ms. Lennon said she had decided to oppose the bell schedule change.
“I intend to make a motion at Tuesday’s meeting to remove the bell schedule change,” she said. “I do not like the bell schedule.”
Ms. Lennon said she would propose other ways of saving money, including a possible fee for Advanced Placement tests, which are currently free to students, and eliminating CMS TV.
She said the bus proposal may not be the best, but the school system must do something.
Wednesday’s meeting did not touch on broader questions of the long-term future of Davidson IB Middle School – something Ms. Lennon, who represents northern Mecklenburg County, including Davidson, has discussed at other meetings. She argues that the school is more expensive than others in the system because of the small student body. She also has mentioned the option of moving the program in two years to an existing school with space, such as Alexander Graham Middle in Charlotte.
RELATED LINKS
Read a longer discussion of Davidson IB Middle’s size and costs, plus news about its latest national recognition, in Laurie Dennis’s May 5 article, Davidson IB gets top national award as top notch magnet: Award comes on even of meeting about future of school.”
April 28, 2010, “Davidson IB plans meetings on schedule changes.”
April 24, 2010, “CMS to change magnet school bus services, start times.”
CORRECTION: This story has been corrected to show that a planned new before-school program would be held at Davidson IB Middle School, while teacher-workday care would be at another site.
