Good on you Lisa! See you at the meeting.

Thanks to all for your support with this effort. Please know that we need your signatures on the petition as well as bodies at the Communication Forum on the 26th. It has been made clear that the Superintendent's office does not feel there is sufficient public interest to make a change to their schedule and they are presenting Monday as the leading option on their survey. So many of you have indicated that the survey was slanted and you did not like any of the options. Don't allow your response to be skewed. If you pay taxes or have children or grandchildren attending school or who will attend school in District 15, put your name on the below petition - anonymously is fine also - and come on the 26th.

Please also be aware that this issue affects your middle school children. They will also have a day of late start or early release with class times extended by a minute or two 4 days a week and shortened by 5 each on the late start/early release day. If you would like to continue the discussion on Friday, please add your voice to ours.

https://www.change.org/petitions/ccsd15-school-board-listen-to-constituents-re-late-arrival-early-dismissal-schedule-enrichment-time-end-of-the-day-friday-no-lost-instruction-time

GREAT WORK Lisa and all parents who attended yesterday's meeting! I have posted this all over Facebook for other D15 parents to be aware of. My jaw hit the floor at the reason they aren't considering the Friday early release option. Really, teachers are too tired? I wish I could tell that to my boss, or heck, even my kids when I come home after an 8-hour day and still have dinner, cleaning, baths, and bed to handle. KEEP PUSHING!!!!!

Thank you Lisa! This is a perfect example of what the taxpayers have been fighting all these years -- union adult 'wants' vs. the 'needs' of parents and 'benefit' of the students. The union thinks teachers are too tired to work during the end of Friday class time to get anything useful out of training on a Friday afternoon!?!?!? Really? Next time someone complains about the teachers doing a 'ton' of work and giving up all their time, this article will be referenced! Apparently their union thinks they shouldn't even work during work time.

School districts need ongoing forums to discuss issues with parents. Parents have many questions and concerns that are not readily addressed at board meetings. I suggest school districts have interactive meetings with parents at the Palatine library.

As a taxpayer, parent, grandparent and bus driver in District 15, I and my fellow community members and co-workers understand your frustration with the school board and their lack of communication and willingness to hear what the people have to say. The school board has yet to issue a survey as to what the people think about outsourcing the transportation department. It was suggested at the Dec 12, 2012 board meeting that a survey be done regarding the outsourcing, yet they have taken no action whatsoever to put one out there. We too have a petition that has, as of this writing, 465 signatures. https://www.change.org/petitions/ccsd15-school-board-do-not-outsource-the-district-15-transportation-department?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=url_share&utm_campaign=url_share_after_sign

We need more. We would also like the community to come to the board meetings so the board may hear of their concerns regarding outsourcing. One has to wonder what the school board will do next under the people's noses without our knowledge. This is not what we pay taxes for, is to have them making decisions without input. They work for US.....we pay THEIR salaries. It's time they start taking into consideration what the PEOPLE want, instead of what THEY think is best. Keep fighting for what you believe in, we will fight right beside you.

Lisa - Thanks for articulating this issue so well!

I am a D15 parent, not an employee or teacher. I do agree that probably the least effictive time for job related training in any profession to be held would br be Friday afternoons. Also we should all want to avoid outsourcing our bus service. If that is done I guarantee a decrease in level of service.

If this is about what is best for the kids, there can be no doubt that Friday early afternoon release is the best option. Actually, the best option is for the teachers to get the additional development time on their own time (and not impact the students at all), but clearly, that is not an option with the current contract. To ask students to have a varied schedule in the morning, or to start 10 minutes earlier, is insane. Many districts (for junior high and high school) are moving to a LATER morning start time as that is more consistent with the pre-teen/teen biology. Working parents do not need an additional burden. The teachers can handle a professional meeting Friday afternoon - if they are "too tired" by Friday afternoon, then I certainly would not want them in the classroom trying to teach!!

Also a D15 parent...I am unsettled about the options offered by the district. I already feel as if the school day is shorter than it should be, and to schedule a day of early release mid-week seems crazy. It would be a "what day is it?" kind of situation. I don't understand how this even came about, the idea that training must happen during the school day. I work for myself, which means I work all the time, but even when I was working a corporate job, whatever time required by my job was what I did. I was never paid overtime, it was just my job. Most training that I participated in was on my own time or even on weekends. Teachers are not paid hourly...nor was I. I was paid a salary to do the job, which entailed many more hours than a teaching position. If I left at 5, it was early. I want to also point out that I made a decent amount less at that point than the district average salary, and I lived downtown, with a much higher cost of living. I don't understand the expectation that the time should affect the kids. The adding of 10 minutes to other days seems like an asinine solution...those 10 minutes will be swallowed up by the day and won't offer the kids anything in terms of learning. Although maybe they wouldn't have to inhale their lunch anymore in order to finish before they have to get out of the lunchroom. I guess I would like it a lot more if I felt like the teachers loved teaching so much that they would refuse to take time away from the students. Such a pollyanna.

Too tired to have a meeting from 2:15 to 3:00 on a Friday?? How would they like if they were my 4:30 patient on a Friday and I said "you know what. I'm exhausted from the work week. I'm really to tired to listen to you and deal with your issues. But I am going to bill you the same as my Monday 10am patient. Sorry. You know how it is right??"

Early release on Friday would be less productive for teachers. I prefer early release to late start, but can be happy with another day of the week than Friday.

I'm a D15 Parent. In my opinion, the issue is not the teachers having to sit through training on Friday afternoon. The issue is waiting until Monday to use the training. If the professional development is done well, it should be energizing and motivating our teachers to implement what they are learning. Training, energizing, and motivating any employee at 2:30 on a Friday seems to be wasted energy. However, being energized and motivated on a Monday or Wednesday has the potential to see immediate results.

I think it is fair to say that there are few working adults who WANT to sit in any meeting regardless of the day it falls on. For myself, if I have to sit in a meeting, I want it to be something I can actually use. As stated in a previous post, we all have responsibilities and obligations waiting for us at home. And in my house the weekends are the worst. There are days when trying to remember if I put clothes in the dryer is too hard. Remembering what I did Friday can seem almost impossible.

Changing the school hours is going to impact everyone. It's going to change daycare needs and wake up or busing times. So I want to get the most out of it. I believe my children will see that in the classroom if the teachers have the opportunity to implement what they are learning right away.

STIY. I agree. I am not seeing the difference between Friday afternoon and Monday morning in terms of childcare. For me it is the same thing, either way. It is a personal choice do you want the time in the beginning of the week or the end? Many parents like the early release on Friday so that it frees up that afternoon. However I have talked to many that like the later start on Monday because it is an easier transition into the week (especially if you travel on the weekend). If you need AM supervision I am sure the CARE Program or some other organization will pop up. I think Monday morning is fine. The kids schedule does not get interrupted and it is the beginning of the week. If the kids starting earlier is the big issue, then shift the entire day 10-15 later. No doubt it will be an inconvenience at first but in the end we will all adjust. Many districts are doing the same or have done so for the past 10 years, and it has not been a big problem.

F.L. - I think you are overly optimistic on the availability of morning child care. From what I've heard the CARE program has waiting lists. And what day care center is going to take on new customers who only want to pay for one hour one day a week? I would think many of them would need to add to their staffs (per DCFS guidelines), and who wanst to do that for customers paying for only one hour?

FL and STIY, seems to me you two are plants from the union and not uninterested parties. We know how D15 works. I disagree that teachers will imPlement ideas immediately. I also discount your claim that they will lose anything from training over the weekend. Weak arguments! In fact, it will give the teachers time to think about and review how they will implement all the fabulous skills and ideas they will obtain in the 40 minute training modules and start fresh bright and early in Monday morning! The Monday mornings there are no holidays that is! What a joke!

Also, not all filies can afford weekend holidays and would,therefore, prefer late start Mondays. Most parents need to work, be at work at regularly scheduled times, and cannot find/afford before school care! Elitist arguments that illustrate you do not understand the issues at hand.

f.L. How will Mondays work? during the school year we have some Mondays off of school, Martin Luther king, Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day and Columbus Day. How will this affect the late starts on Monday's? How would that be made up? I think there minds are just set on the Wednesdays!! They just want to try to be nice and give the parents an option, since we are the taxpayers, they do not care about us and our say!! Just keep fighting!! Fridays are the best option here I think:))

Lisa's article sated that the schools will have a morning program available for a nominal fee. It seems that most of the complaints come for the 7:55 starts. What about the parents at the late start schools? Their kids always start at 8:50, later than the new proposal. THey have had to make adjustments once their kids started school and with no petitions. They have never cried, "i work downtown",or "it's too late". Our home values are directly tied to how good our school district is and we do not want ours to decline!

Bucephalus thank you! Kathy O your response is exactly the reason I usually don't comment on things. If someone differs in opinion the accusations fly instead of actually discussing the issue. My point was Monday morning is attached to the weekend so the scheduling should not be an issue. Why would Friday early pick up be any harder or easier than Monday morning. If my memory serves me correctly the district use to have 3 different start times. And some of those use to rotate, some schools changed start times every 3-4 years. Why was that not an issue? My point is I think this is making a mountain over a mole hill. Is it inconvenient? Yes. Is it a massive disruption to my ability to get my kids to school and me off to work? No.
Listeup made a good point what if your school moved start time to 8:50? and a late start school to 7:55? How would you manage? Would you have to move?

Sub-Bus - From what I understand if the Monday is a holiday there is no making up of any late start. I could be wrong about that.

I await the accusations of being a union stooge, plant, spy, etc. or we can actually talk about resolving this issue. I think Monday AM is the compromise, it is attached to the weekend and it still gives the schedule change that is needed. Both parties are not getting exactly what they want.

Shouldn't it be us as the tax payers that decide how this is to instituted. I believe that if this is truly for the enrichment of the teachers that this should be done on their time. Keep them late on a Friday or heaven forbid have them come in on a Saturday. The unions have truly skewed this as to be a teachers right, last time i checked we pay them.

How is Monday attached to the weekend?

I have been trying to follow this and think I have the facts correct.
The teachers day will remain the same hours (Jr. High arrive 7:40-end 2:25) class start will change from 7:55 to 7:45 and the students will arrive at 7:30 instead of 7:40 and be unsupervised for 15 minutes. The question is when should the teachers have time to meet! The teachers schedule is not changing. An early dismisal or late start just means the teachers are meeting instead of teaching during that time period. Isn't the more important question WHAT IS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE PARENTS AND STUDENTS? What will work best for those being affected?

Thanks Lisa! I totally agree that Friday early release is the best option for the kids and for parents. I signed your petition and so will other family in the district.

parents shouldn't have to fight with their school district. parents should be the school district. many of the problems i see that exist between the board and the community are because ex teachers and ex administrators run for and are elected to seats on the board. while it seems on the surface that such people know about education, in truth it upsets the intended structure of the school board. teachers and administrators think like teachers and administrators. they are much less likely to represent the interests of parents in the community than actual parents in the community.

I don't think our teachers get the recognition they deserve and I'm shocked at the lack of support being given to better our teachers and our schools. We've lived out of state where the teachers were given one Monday a month to educate themselves and the district scores we're some of the highest scores in the country. It sounds to me that parents aren't looking out for the best interests of their kids but looking at the interests of themselves. My kids were delighted when I told them of the new schedule.

M. - I would guess you have a stay at home parent.

Not less valid - but it's hard to argue that the change is OK if the change has no negative impact on you.

If the district decides to charge tuition for band/orchestra/ESL classes/[insert something that doesn't affect you here] would it be OK for me to argue that it's good based on it *not* affecting me?

Clearly from these and all the previous comments posted on other articles, the overall consensus is that a Friday afternoon early release works best for families. I think it's a lame argument that whatever training the teachers would get on a Friday has to be immediately implemented or else they will forget it, which was in a previous article. If they can't remember something they learned a couple of days ago to teach it on the following Monday, perhaps they shouldn't be teaching in the first place. And the argument about the teachers being too tired on a Friday afternoon is equally as lame. Welcome to the working world where our days actually go past 5pm sometimes and they are complaining about getting out at 3? Please, I think majority of people with regular jobs would kill for one that lets them out at 3 on a Friday!!