Copyright berkshireeagle
PITTSFIELD — The city's current two-tiered bus schedule is not compatible with the district's ambitious middle school restructuring plan. That was the message Wednesday night from interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips, who provided an the Pittsfield School Committee an update on the planning for the project. Currently, the district operates on a two-tiered structure in which it transports middle and high schoolers on one run of buses and elementary students on the second. “[The transportation team] ran the scenario, and they found that we cannot transport citywide middle schools on two-tier transportation, and so it would require three tiers,” she said. That in turn could result in adjusting bell schedules at all three levels, or potentially staggering the start of classes at the two middle schools. The School Committee is currently considering whether enough progress has been made to push ahead with the restructuring plan, which calls for moving all fifth and sixth grade students to Herberg Middle School and all seventh and eighth graders to Reid Middle School. The committee, which is expected to make the go/no go decision at its Dec. 10 meeting, has scheduled a work session for Dec. 1 to review progress and ask questions. Busing was an oft-cited concern when the committee adopted the restructuring plan last summer. But while work continues on figuring out the transportation puzzle, other aspects of the project are taking shape. Phillips outlined the progress made the past few weeks and the work yet to be done before the School Committee makes its decision next month. The progress includes insights gleaned from a staff visit to Westfield, which has also switched to a grades 5-6 lower middle school and a grades 7-8 upper middle school. The change is intended to provide more challenging and supportive learning environments for students and assure equal opportunity citywide. It comes amid concerns about families leaving for school choice options for the middle grades, with hopes that stronger academics and more electives — options not offered at surrounding districts — will stem the outflow. “We've been doing a lot of work with our working group, and now we're ready to start engaging all of the teachers that are in our upper elementary and middle schools,” Phillips told the committee. What they learned at Westfield: Phillips said the advice from Westfield educators was “don’t put it off,” because the change has resulted in real benefit for the city's fifth and sixth graders. The city delegation reported that Westfield’s middle school attendance improved, bullying and fighting are down, and the schools were able to add more elective options, such as daily chorus and band. “They felt that fifth and sixth graders were ready for a change. They were ready to leave the elementary environment, and they enjoyed the new freedoms without being overwhelmed with being the youngest group among preteens and teens,” the Pittsfield delegation learned, according to Phillips. To make it work, however, Westfield staff suggested involving teachers immediately, promoting staff interactions and culture at the two schools, and rebranding the two schools with new names, colors and mascots as a learning experience and a bonding opportunity. Curriculum: While the seventh and eighth grade working group is nearing a recommendation on the instructional model — which is likely to involve teaching teams and specialists, as it does now — the fifth and sixth grade working group is still considering options. Phillips said team teaching is also likely at the fifth and sixth grade level, but differences in teacher licenses between fifth and sixth grade faculty presents a challenge. “Most of [sixth grade teachers] have licensures for a single subject, whereas our fifth grade teachers tend to have licensure for multiple subjects,” she said. Community input: In addition to additions to the website and a coming frequently asked question [FAQ] section, the district plans drop-in sessions for educators at Reid and Herberg, and via online conferencing. Committee Vice Chair Daniel Elias asked if any of those meetings would be held at elementary schools. Phillips replied that since those schools have just a few fifth grade teachers each, it made more sense to hold them at Herberg and Reid. But Elias said it’s important to meet those teachers where they are — perhaps combining sessions for two or three schools. “I think it's very important to get some elementary feedback and answer some of the concerns and questions that people have,” he said. “I think you've got to have a complete buy in for something like something to really work.” Student feedback: Phillips said focus groups will be held for sixth and eighth graders. “We sometimes leave students out of the plans that we develop, and we do want to hear from students what their hopes are as far as electives and school culture,” she said. “The whole goal is to reach every student, every student group, and for us to be able to plan schools that meet the needs of all students. So we will be looking at students who are doing really well, and we're also looking at the students that aren't having as good of an experience to hear, what do you need for your experience to be better?” Name change? Naming (or renaming) schools is a School Committee responsibility. Members said if the district is to rebrand Reid and Herberg, which were both renamed for longtime city educators, it should be a formal process with public input. “We did not do that with Capeless [Elementary School] some years ago and ended up with a room full of people that were unhappy that we didn't do the process,” Committee Chair William Cameron said of the renaming of Highland Elementary School. “Sometimes we think a name isn't significant, but sometimes it's very significant to some communities.” Scheduling: Committee member Diana Belair asked if transportation changes might be an opportunity to flip elementary and secondary start times. “From my own experience, the younger kids are up earlier, and older kids need more sleep,” she said. In 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended later school start times for adolescents, stating that research showed later starts offered “a wide range of potential benefits to students with regard to physical and mental health, safety, and academic achievement.” Making that change is harder than it looks, Phillips said.. “My understanding is we have to be in sync [with other districts] for athletics and after school programs,” she said. “That may not be the only reason, but my experience in other districts is that … you can't just easily change.”
