In a discussion that lasted more than two hours, Westports Board of Education Monday night told the co-chairs of a committee studying the controversial school start-time issue to come up with a recommendation in time for the next school year.
Several board members suggested the panel consider a compromise 15-minute change Җ something that also had been raised earlier this year but rejected.
Two schools Coleytown Middle School and Coleytown Elementary School ֖ started classes a half-hour earlier beginning in September to save money on transportation costs.

Dan Sullivan, principal of Green’s Farms Elementary School, and Angela Wormser, principal of Bedford Middle Shool, hear thoughts from Board of Education members Monday night on the controversial school start-time issue. WestportNow.com photo

The move sparked an outcry from parents who said the decision meant their children would get less sleep and also suffer academically.
The issue was hotly debated during the November election for three board seats.
The seven board members, without taking a formal vote, appeared to reject an extended timetable request by the committee.
It suggested that it be permitted to continue its work for an additional six to nine months to further study the issue and make a recommendation for the 2005-2006 school year.
Instead, the board told the co-chairs of the committee Dan Sullivan, principal of Green֒s Farms Elementary School, and Angela Wormser, principal of Bedford Middle School to come up with at least an interim solution to be implemented next September.
֓I think a change has to be made for next year, said member Mary Parmelee, a Democrat who won re-election to her second term last month. She had made the earlier suggestion for the 15-minute compromise.
Added Lewis Brey, a Republican freshman also elected in November: ԓId be disappointed to have to wait to make a change.Ҕ He reminded the board and the co-chairs that the new times had only been initiated in September.
IӒm not talking about a long-standing practice, he said.
Nancy Harris, assistant superintendent for business, told the board that a 15-minute change in start times would be ԓbudget neutral, meaning it would not have a significant cost implication.
Brey as well as fellow Republican Linda Merk-Gould, board vice chair, said theyԒd favor adding parents or other community members to the start-time committee, which is made up only of school staff members.
Rob Sobleman, head of the Staples High School student legislative body, urged the board to add one or more student members as well and pointedly asked Schools Supt. Elliott Landon why no community members were on the panel.
Landon replied that it was his decision to make it a staff committee only that would make a recommendation to the Board of Education for action.
If itӒs a community decision, why are we asking the staff to make the decision? Sobleman responded, to a scattering of applause from audience members.

The Board of Education Monday night approved a school calendar for next year that is little changed from this year.
But it rejected a recommendation from the schools superintendent that it regularly schedule additional board meetings and start them earlier.
The calendar was approved by a 7-0 vote.
Before the vote, board member Mary Parmelee, a Democrat, questioned Schools Supt. Elliott Landon as to the makeup of the staff committee that drafted the calendar. Parents had been on past calendar committees.

Staples student body head Rob Sobleman addresses Board of Ed Monday night. WestportNow.com photo

We went through the process without parents,Ӕ Landon said, adding that the Board of Education would have the final say.Ӕ
Parmelee said she hoped parents would be added back to the committee next year.
The calendar calls for students to report for classes Sept. 1, 2004, the Wednesday before the Monday Labor Day holiday.
A number of parents this year as well as in the past had asked that school not start before Labor Day to better accommodate summer vacation plans.
As to having additional board meetings Landon had recommended three a month instead of the present two and that they start at 7:30 p.m. instead of 8 p.m. to accommodate more board business and public input ֖ no formal vote was taken.
But the idea seemed to win little favor among board members.
Democrat Mark Mathias, a freshman, said that if the board created more shelf space,Ӕ theyd only manage to fill it. Instead he suggested their meetings could be run ғa little tighter to get more work done.
Mathias also said he did not endorse another Landon suggestion that public comment be limited to only one meeting a month. ԓIm not for meeting without public input,Ҕ he said.
Also not winning much support was a suggestion by Parmelee that board meetings also be scheduled for the occasional Friday mornings so more members of the public could attend.
Rob Sobleman, head of the Staples High School student legislative body, asked that regular board meetings be scheduled to coincide with the Tuesday night meetings of his group.
Several members said special meetings could be held, but there appeared to be little support for scheduling regular board meetings with the student parliamentarians.

In an effort to accommodate more Board business and public input, Schools Supt. Elliott Landon is proposing the Board of Education meet three times a month instead of two and start a half hour earlier—at 7:30 p.m.

In a memo to Board members in advance of Monday nights meeting, Landon proposed that the Board have one monthly meeting devoted solely to public input and not take public comment at the other two meetings.

ғDepending on the press of business, the Board could schedule one of the meetings for extended public comments or, if the meeting is deemed not necessary, the meeting could be canceled, he said.

Landon added, ԓIf the Board approves this approach, members might wish to consider eliminating public comment on non-agenda items for two meetings per month and opening the floor for general public comment at the third meeting.

In response to concerns from Board members and the public about starting important topics late in the evening, Landon proposed moving up the meeting start time a half hour from 8 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

He said this would mean starting executive sessions at 6 p.m., and following the practice of the Board of Finance, bringing in dinner for members.

The proposed Westport school calendar for 2004-2005 looks pretty much like the ones in the past.

In a submission for Board of Education action at its Monday night meeting, Schools Supt. Elliott Landon said the proposal is for a traditional calendar, preserving the three extended vacations in the customary places with eight weeks between each vacation period.Ӕ

Landon said Westport schools will continue to be in session on Veterans Day but added that all principals will pay particular attention to having a significant observance of the meaning of the day.Ӕ

There had been some criticism by Westport veterans after this years observance that school children should not have school on Nov. 11 so they could attend the townҒs annual Veterans Day ceremony at Town Hall.

The calendar proposal calls for school to start on Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2004, and end on Thursday, June 23, 2005. Students will be off for Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 6.

The Christmas break will be from Friday, Dec. 24, 2004, to Monday, Jan. 3, 2005.

There will be a vacation break from Monday, Feb. 21, 2005, to Friday. Feb. 25, with a staff development day on Monday, Feb. 28, meaning students won’t return to classes until Tuesday, March 1.

The final vacation will be Monday, April 18, to Friday, April 22.

Landon told the board in a memo that since the calendar is a traditional one, he hoped the board would approve it Monday night as we have already begun to get phone calls from parents trying to plan ahead for their childrenӒs summer activities and their family vacations.

The Westport school systems committee studying the controversial issue of adolescent sleep time and school starting times says it needs six to nine additional months for its work.

In a progress report prepared for MondayҒs Board of Education meeting, the School Start-Time Committee said it agrees that adolescents need more sleep, that the issue is complex and multi-faceted, and that scientific evidence is inconclusive.

The scientific literature does not provide a clear answer regarding school start time,Ӕ the committee said.

It also agreed that the community needs to understand the problem and be actively involved with determining a solution.Ӕ

To deal effectively with this issue will require more time,Ӕ the committee said. It said if the Board agrees, it would issue a final report between July and October 2004, depending on the pace of its remaining work.

The committee, co-chaired by Dan Sullivan, principal of Greens Farms Elementary School, and Angela Wormser, principal of Bedford Middle School, has met 10 times since Sept. 30.

Its charge is to examine, develop and make recommendations for school start time for all Westport schools.

It was formed after the Board of Education this year ordered classes at Coleytown Middle School and Coleytown Elementary School to start half an hour earlier to save money on transportation costs.

The cost-saving measure produced an outcry from parents and was hotly debated during the recent Board of Education election.

In its progress report, the committee suggested that the issue was even more complex than the educators initially believed.

ғAs we learn more about the topic, more areas of issues appear, the report said.

The committee said its remaining tasks included reviewing parent and staff surveys from Coleytown Elementary and Coleytown Middle School and conducting community forums.

It also said it wanted to calculate costs and implications of various start-time options as well as conduct a ԓscientifically randomized telephone survey to determine community support for various school start time options.

The Hartford Courant, in an editorial, has praised the reaction of Westports Staples High School to reports of cheating among its students.

It wrote: ғCheating among high school and college students is at an all-time high. Technology makes it possible, even tempting. Term papers and fake diplomas are offered for sale with abandon on the Internet. Copyrighted music is available with a click of the mouse. Electronic gadgets are capable of providing information from anywhere and using it without permission or attribution.

Young people raised in this milieu seem not to understand or care that passing off someone else’s work as one’s own is plagiarism. File sharing, the practice that has the music industry in an uproar, is illegal but nonetheless rampant. It’s sharing, said students at a recent high school journalism workshop. How could that be wrong?

“In some ways, this cavalier attitude is encouraged by well-publicized breaches of ethics by adults in the corporate, political and financial arenas.

ԔJohn J. Brady, principal at Westport’s Staples High School, is doing something about this disturbing trend among young people by making cheating an issue. He was prompted by an essay in the school newspaper chronicling ‘epidemic’ cheating at the school, followed by examples of elaborate cheating schemes among students driven by academic competition.

A funny thing happened on the way to a culture change at Staples High: The students welcomed the honest talk about the difference between pursuit of knowledge and pursuit of grades. They are involved in forming strategies for making cheating socially unacceptable. Parents and teachers are part of the effort, too.

ԔWestport’s recognition of the seriousness of this issue and its intelligent attempt to address it should be a model for Connecticut and the nation. Parents and educators don’t do children any favors by failing to teach them that hard, honest achievement is the most satisfying route to success.

The 63nd Annual Candlelight Concert will be presented by the Staples High School Music Department on Friday and Saturday evenings.

There will be a 7 p.m. performance on Friday and a 6:30 p.m. and a 9:30 p.m. performance on Saturday.

The Friday performance and the first Saturday performance are sold out.

An announcement reminded residents that due to the construction at Staples High School, the 6:30 performance on Saturday is a half hour earlier than in previous years to allow for construction traffic congestion.

The Symphonic Orchestra, the Symphonic and Sophomore Bands, the Staples Chorus and Chorale and the Staples Choir will perform.

Each group will present individual performances with all singers joining forces with the orchestra for the traditional processional, Sing We NoelӔ, and the finale, Hallelujah Chorus.”

For tickets, send a self-addressed stamped envelope indicating the number of tickets, the specific concert, and alternate time and date if the first choice is not available.

Requests should be mailed to the Music Department at Staples High School 70 North Ave., Westport, attn. Candlelight Concert. Tickets are available only by mail and may not be picked up personally at Staples.