Parents, District Working For Common Ground on School Day Change

Following last week's school committee meeting where several dozen Lynnfield parents turned out to express their concern about planned changes in the school day, a number of readers have contacted this website also expressing their concern about the issue.

Specifically, the Lynnfield School District informed parents in a recent letter that in order to satisfy professional development needs for the 2013-2014 school year, each day will begin 10 minutes earlier - to allow for a 90-minute early dismissal every other Wednesday.

"It's actually a little time positive. For all intents and purposes, it's time neutral," said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Thomas Jefferson in a recent phone conversation with Lynnfield Patch, adding that the district is looking at various alternatives to help parents deal with the schedule shift.

Jefferson noted that last year's NEASC accreditation report had called for more professional developmenet of an interdisciplinary and collaborative nature. "The need for added professional development really spans across a lot of areas," said the superintendent, noting that different needs are being assessed at each of the town's schools. When asked if the change had anything to do with the  iPad initiative, Jefferson replied that this is just a fraction of the district's professional development needs.

Parents who have expressed concern about the plan have said they were dismayed that they did not receive earlier notice. Jefferson said that the school committee was not at liberty to discuss the plan earlier because it was part of the collective bargaining process at the time. He reported that the district had also for a time considered a professional development plan that would have produced a 3-hour early dismissal once a month.

One parent who spoke with Lynnfield Patch asking that her name not be used said that she and other parents are concerned about what she called a "Lord of the Flies in the gym" scenario. Another parent emailed to say that some of them are circulating an online petition to express their concerns on the matter.

The superintendent also maintained that this has not been a matter of the district saying "hey, we're changing the schedule - good luck." One possible plan he cited, which was also mentioned in the letter, would see an afterschool program offered at a set cost (no more than $100 per family) through Lynnfield Community Schools.

"These problems we will identify and work out one at a time," said Jefferson, nothing that there are still some six months remaining to fully work out solutions.

The superintendent also said he and the school committee had heard some "great suggestions and ideas" from the parents last week and that "we are going to work to share information and answer questions."

Editor's Note: Comment stream closed for too eerily mirroring the gradual downfall of civilization itself...Or more accurately that a couple of people don't know the difference between getting good and bad attention.