Falls School Board will consider alternatives to earlier starting time

Menomonee Falls - The Menomonee Falls School Board hit the snooze button on a plan to move up start times for the high school. Three years ago, the high school went from a 7:20 a.m. start to an 8 a.m. start.

Over the last three years, concerns from staff and administrators at the high school have burgeoned about students missing class at the end of the day for sports and other extra-curricular programs.

The golf team, for instance, may have to get to a tournament across town at 3 p.m. which means students may have to miss multiple classes to make it on time.

In fact, according to a district memo, in 2010-11 alone, high school athletes missed a total of 4,509 classes and cited one student who missed 23 classes in a nine-week period.

When 40 percent of students are involved in these types of activities, the staff recognized what they considered a very serious problem.

The original proposal from the board was to switch the time back to 7:14 a.m. and have an early release Wednesdays at 1:40 p.m. instead of the usual 2:30 p.m.

Parents and students have expressed their frustration with the proposal. Jeff and Patricia Franks offered the board extensive research on sleep patterns of teenagers and warned against the possibility of students having to get up early being at risk of getting into accidents.

They cited Pewaukee as a model to potentially use where students can come 45 minutes before the 8:15 a.m. official start time to catch up on work missed from extra-curricular activities.

"They're ignoring modern information," said Patricia Franks, whose daughter will be a freshman at the high school next year.

Board President Kathy Shurilla told the public Monday night that the district has decided to explore other options, but hadn't ruled out going back to the earlier start time.

"After hearing from the public, hearing from the board, we have decided there are other options," Shurilla said.

"Nobody's mind is made up on this."

Seeking alternatives

Since the 2012-13 school year would be the first time the time would be changed, the board does have time to review and explore this issue. The administrative team has apparently asked the board for more time to develop one or more alternatives.

According to the Department of Public Instruction, there's no trend in overall attendance following the time change, although instances of tardiness are not counted in that data.

One resident pointed out that union contracts with teachers constrains the district with what it can do regarding the calendar. The district could simply wait a year until that contract expires and then make a change unfettered by union input.

Whether or not the district sees that as a better solution likely won't be known until administrators come back with an alternative plan. The board didn't indicate whether or not it was willing to make this change, although Superintendent Pat Greco has offered her support, as have administrators at the high school.

Andy Stoiber, the student School Board representative, told the board that while he initially thought students would universally reject the earlier start time, after talking with students, he found a pretty even split.

Stoiber said many students favored an earlier start time because it would allow them to work longer after school without having to work as late.

The board didn't say when it planned to bring forward alternatives, but the board will meet Monday instead of the 26th due to the holiday.

Next Step

What: Menomonee Falls School Board could discuss the earlier start time for the high school.

When: 5:15 p.m. Monday

Where: Village Hall, N8480 Pilgrim Road