This article originally appeared in WFAE reporter Ann Doss Helms' weekly education newsletter. To get the latest school news in your inbox first, sign up for our email newsletters here.
I recently mentioned that Charlotte-Mecklenburg high schools start classes at 7:15 a.m. That prompted a reader to ask whether anyone in CMS knows about research suggesting that starting the school day later is more conducive to healthy sleep for teens.
“Do you know if that is ever a concern — and if so, why is it dismissed?” she asked.
CMS officials are definitely aware of the case for a later start. Parents were pushing for change when I started covering the education beat in 2002. A couple of years later, then-Superintendent James Pughsley launched a trial: Garinger and Waddell high schools would start at 8:45 a.m., 90 minutes later than most others. Both were high-poverty, low-performing neighborhood schools. As I recall, part of the reasoning for selecting them was that the district was eager to boost performance in any way possible.
If those schools had seen a turnaround, it’s possible the whole district might be on a different schedule now. According to an article I wrote for the Observer in 2006, Waddell saw an improvement in test scores at the end of the first year, but Garinger’s performance dropped slightly. Both schools reported more absences and tardies. Some speculated that by the time the later buses came, parents were at work and couldn’t make sure their kids got on.
But the biggest friction came not from the later start, but the later dismissal. Other schools called it a day at 2:15 p.m., leaving students free for athletic practices, extracurricular activities and after-school jobs. Waddell and Garinger students were in class until 3:45. Students involved in competitions and multi-school events sometimes signed out early, further eroding time for learning.
It would have been smoother if all schools converted to the same later schedule. But district officials said that would require them to buy 200 more buses and spend millions of dollars. CMS uses an elaborate transportation schedule in which each bus makes two or three runs, dropping off students from an early-start school and then heading out to serve schools with later schedules.
A year and a half into the experiment, Pughsley had resigned and the interim superintendent pulled the plug.
Now, here we are laying out schedules for 2023-24, and CMS high schools still start at 7:15 a.m. So do high schools in Cabarrus County. Gaston’s high schools start at 8:30 — that’s what the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends — with Union County and Iredell-Statesville Schools opening their high schools at scattered times, ranging from roughly 8 to 8:30 a.m.
A new superintendent should be in place by the time CMS plans its 2024-25 bell schedule so maybe high school start times will get a fresh look. But if letting high school students sleep in requires more buses, any such plan would have a high bar to clear. The district plans to scale back on buses in 2023-24. Last week school board members voiced concerns about the impact the express bus plan will have on equitable access to magnet schools. Staff responded that there isn’t much choice: There just aren’t enough drivers on board to meet current demands, so something has to give.
A former CMS teacher shakes up NC politics
Early last Tuesday afternoon I emailed political reporter Steve Harrison to report that I’d gotten a tip about state Rep. Tricia Cotham’s future. It was that Cotham was planning to … run for state superintendent.
That was just before Lucille Sherman of Axios broke the real news about Cotham, a Mecklenburg County Democrat who used to teach in CMS: She switched her party affiliation to Republican.
I have so many thoughts and questions about this move. But the one thing I’m sure of is that it would be unwise to jump into this politically charged discussion with no firsthand information. So instead I’ll refer you to this report by Mebane Rash of Education NC examining the potential impact on public education. While many of us have been dwelling on the drama, Rash offers historic and national perspective on school funding, choice and decision-making. She follows up with tips for advocacy in the new political environment. (Note that EdNC does nonpartisan education reporting, but as editor-in-chief Rash brings in her own perspective on what’s best for public education.)
By the way, I have no idea whether Cotham, who currently co-chairs the House K-12 Education Committee, is contemplating a run for state superintendent. But I did notice that the current superintendent, Republican Catherine Truitt, is shown in the EdNC photo beaming behind Cotham as she made her announcement.
Can you make this a real break?
It’s spring break for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, and I’ve noticed an interesting trend: Top folks telling their staff to take some real time off, rather than letting this turn into an opportunity to work from home.
“I encourage everyone to take time to relax and enjoy the beautiful Carolina blue skies with friends and family. We want everyone to be well rested and ready to come back for our final days of school,” Interim Superintendent Crystal Hill said the most recent board meeting. “Play hard during spring break so you’ll be ready to work hard when we return.”
A couple days later, I saw a Facebook post by Harding University High Principal Glenn Starnes urging his faculty to leave their laptops at school and disconnect during spring break. “And yes, Mr. Starnes will be joining in as well,” he wrote.
Even the school board abandoned plans to use spring break to plow through superintendent applications, acknowledging that the original plan put unhealthy demands on board members, their families and the staff who would be summoned to support them.
The turmoil that accompanied the pandemic taught us all the importance of tending to our own mental health. So here’s hoping everyone can shut out the clamor of to-do lists and social media, take a deep breath and recharge.
A closer look at the CMS superintendent search
If you’re interested in CMS leadership, I hope you check out my latest report on the superintendent search. The search committee met on a day when other news was grabbing the headlines, but it included a lot of insights about how the board and its consultants are conducting this search. My story also looks at the many ways CMS has seen searches go awry in recent years.
One thing is clear: A lot of power is in the hands of search firm BWP & Associates, at least in the early stages. The trio of retired superintendents guiding the search are:
- Debra Hill, who seems to be taking the lead, at least in conversations with the CMS search committee. She’s managing director at BWP, with most of her work history based in Illinois. And yes, as board Chair Elyse Dashew noted last week, it’s a bit confusing that “Dr. Hill” can now refer to the lead search consultant or the district’s interim superintendent.
- Kevin Castner has worked mostly in Virginia, but has done education consulting across the country and served as an interim superintendent.
- Percy Mack, who has mostly been silent in the Zooms with CMS, retired as superintendent of Richland School District 1 in Columbia, South Carolina, where he still lives. He’s director of an educational leadership program at South Carolina State University.
April 17, once spring break is over, the full board plans to meet to get a first look at who’s in the running and craft questions for the first round of interviews. The public won’t get a peek at the final slate of candidates, however: Anything that discloses the identities of candidates will happen behind closed doors.
