School Board considering a change to the late start schedule

By Ian Dunn

Editor

There are two late starts every month in the Cascade School District on Wednesdays for 1.5 hours. Most parents are already aware of this fact. The time is set aside so teachers can team and collaborate, per state requirements. 

“We had late starts every week for quite sometime. Last year, we moved into twice a month. We typically get comments from community members that still is a burden for them. The work that’s being done is work that is required,” said Cascade Superintendent Bill Motsenbocker, at the April 10 Cascade School Board meeting. “If we don’t use late starts, then we would have to figure out another way to get that work done. The late start is cost effective because we don’t have to pay staff any more.”

Cashmere has one late start per month for two hours on Wednesday. Chelan has a late start every Monday for 1:15 hours. Wenatchee has a late start every Monday for 1.5. Eastmont has a late start every Monday for one hour. Quincy has a late start every Monday for 1.5. 

“We, as a building, struggle getting time together. As much time as we can plan and collaborate during late starts is incredibly appreciated and incredibly valuable. That’s the time we get to meet with not just our grade level teams, but across grade level teams,” Peshastin-Dryden Elementary School Principal, Emily Ross. “So the kindergarten teacher knows exactly what they are doing to prepare their students for first grade, second grade. We talk about what we do as a building to get the students together. It is incredibly valuable.”

Osborn Principal Kenny Renner-Singer said he was not hearing any voices saying “change.” He said he preferred having late starts every Wednesday, feeling it was more consistent for kids, staff and parents. 

“It gave us more time to work together. We’re able to do content area teams, vertical teams, grade level teams and do whole group stuff. We were able to get a lot more done then,” Renner-Singer said. 

School Board member Kristin Wood asked if the teachers would support having late starts every week. Renner-Singer said they are planning to send out a survey to the teachers on this topic. Having a consistent schedule is nice, Renner-Singer said. 

“I would really encourage us not to go to Mondays. When we first went to late starts, we spent a lot of time researching and thinking it out and talking to people. The feedback was, when you have Monday late starts, you are prepping for the week,” Renner-Singer said. “You come in Monday and you are set preparing for the week of instruction, you’re not really there thinking about collaborating, working together.”

Renner-Singer said they deliberately selected Wednesday, because they felt it provided more collaborative time together. Motsenbocker said some districts have chosen Monday at the request of the parents, who felt it was tough to get children up on Monday anyway. 

Board member Brenda Biebescheimer said Wednesday is difficult for the little kids, because they are on a sleep schedule. Renner-Singer said he hears some grumbling about late starts, but people plan for it and figure it out. 

“I would love to go every Wednesday. I think that would be a huge benefit. The problem was, when it was every Wednesday, we got a little bit lax on how we used our time. Things started to fall apart,” said Board President Carrie Sorensen. “Maybe this would not be an issue anymore, but at that point in time, I remember it was a problem with the community because there were times when teachers were not at school.”

Since other districts are meeting more, Board Member Jennifer Pickel wondered if the district was getting in the required hours. Motsenbocker said teachers just have to get the work done, no matter the late starts. 

Motsenbocker said he started the discussion because he thought the teachers would be better served meeting twice a week for two hours, instead of 1.5. 

“I would rather not disrupt families anymore than we do now. We’re going to do a survey of staff, so we have some data to work with. It’s looks to me like, I would rather have the two hour time block, if they are going to use it,” Motsenbocker said. “In the next two years, we might be able accomplish all these goals we’ve set, but now we have this plan for collaboration. Once we get all that work done, we’re still going to have find time for those teachers to get together and collaborate.”

It’s hard to accomplish much in an  hour, said Icicle River Middle School Principal Mike Janski. He said many kids show up late on Wednesdays they don’t have a late start. Having late starts every Wednesday would be helpful to parents, Janski said. 

“The 1.5 hours almost seems like not enough, but we make that work. For us, it has been really valuable. We have time set up during the day for our grade level teams, but for each grade level, we have a math teacher, science teacher, language arts teacher and social studies teachers,” Janski said. 

“It’s really nice for them to be able to vertical team, so the math teachers can get together and work through rubix, scoring guides and assessments. Because trying bounce a math problem off a language arts teacher..they can help you with the wording, not the questions.”

Janski felt the late starts should be at least 1.5 or two hours. Cascade High School Principal Elia Ala’ilima-Daley said, back when he was teacher, the late start felt like more prep time. After learning more, now he said he wishes they had late starts every week again. 

“At the high school, Mike (Hill) and I travel from group to group. An hour-and-a-half at the high school doesn’t seem like enough. It would be great if it was two,” Daley said. “Was it being abused? Yeah, but now I wish we hadn’t set ourselves up like that. Now, they ask us to come down to meetings. It has regenerated the thinking of how to do things. I would love to get back to four, but two hours would be great.”

Biebescheimer asked if the parents would surveyed as well. Motsenbocker said he doesn’t want to open the can too big. 

“If it is not broken, we’re not going to fix it. By the next board meeting, we’ll have the data from the staff to see what they say. If we decide the two hours would be a benefit, we should ask parents,” Motsenbocker said. “I don’t think we should ask do you want these or do you not, because it is something we have to do. We could ask if you would prefer 1.5 hour a week or 2 hours twice?”

Would the school district ever consider an early release?, Biebescheimer asked. 

“Most people haven’t done early releases. I worked at a district a long time ago that did. The downtown community did not like us very well. The middle and high school kids flooded town unsupervised,” Motsenbocker said. 

“When we did the survey, the parents said, I can handle getting them to school late easier than having them home until I get off a 5 p.m. If I remember, it was actually more of an inconvenience,” Sorensen added. 

Ian Dunn can be reached at 548-5286 or editor@leavenworthecho.com.