School Board Candidates Address Issues of Start Time, Winter Break

The candidates vying to lead the West Bloomfield School District were asked questions Tuesday about issues ranging from an earlier start time to the possibility of reviving February break as part of a student-moderated forum at .

Represented at the forum were Julie Beaty, Karen M. Faett, Nelson Hersh, CharRhonda Moye, Carol Finkelstein and John Reed, who answered questions from seven different moderators. Hersh is the lone incumbent running for one of two open seats on the seven-member board; Trustee Melanie Torbert will not run for re-election.

To read about the student response to moderating the forum,

Here's what the candidates had to say:

Earlier start time

In one of three questions posed to candidates prior to the forum, candidates commented on the issue of earlier start times at the high school. to start school earlier in order to implement a four-tier bus system. WBHS now starts at 7:10 a.m., a difference of 13 minutes from last year. Hersh commented in support of the change, that it will save the district approximately $400-500,000 annually.

"This savings is the equivalent of eight full-time teachers. By having more teachers, this allows us to ... keep classrooms smaller," Hersh said. "On the bright side, it is kind of good because it prepares you for the future, in college."

Finkelstein said that she was opposed to the measure of starting school earlier this year and that as a board member, she'd like to consider shifting not only the start time at the high school, but also the schedule of recess in relation to lunch for elementary students.

"I support a change in the high school start time to be later that of the middle school," Finkelstein said. "I also favor recess before lunch ... with the rationale that kids will not be sitting in their warm coats in the winter time, itching to go outside.

Four-day school week

Candidates were asked their opinion regarding the option of implementing a four-day school week for high school students, to be supplanted by increasing the amount of hours students are in school and promote "community education" measures such as college preparatory study sessions.

CharRhonda Moye commented that she would be interested in researching the possibility as a board member, while offering several concerns that the community would have to deal with.

"I know that there's been other districts that have tried it and they seem to have one problem — that when students were not in school, they didn't have much to do," Moye said. "We also have to make sure we follow the Michigan Department of Education — that we have the right amount of days, the right amount of hours."

Reed said that he is not in favor of the idea. "I've heard about support of ACT prep and AP prep and things like that, but ... the best ACT prep that you can do is to take the most challenging curriculum and be in those classrooms with those teachers, working hard every day," he said.

Beaty concurred with the sentiment in opposition, although she added that it should be considered as idea if interest is there. "It would have to be analyzed as an actual cost savings and educational impact," Beaty said. "We should be making prep courses available to the students."

Faett replied that the idea be seriously considered. "I don't think it's something that should be dismissed out of hand ... I think that this is something that gives the district considerable flexibility," she said. "It encourages individual projects, take-home work, problem solving."

Bringing back winter break

Candidates were also asked for their opinion regarding the possibility of West Bloomfield once again having a break from school in February. Unlike in many others districts, students have no break in February in-between the winter break occurring December through January and spring recess in April.

The candidates largely spoke in favor of instituting a winter break, which is bargained upon between the West Bloomfield teachers union and district administration with every new contract.

"We're cold, it's dark, we're tired. By the time we get to (February), it's harder for us to work efficiently. I think the students need a break, the parents need a break," Beaty said.

"Even a five-day break would be reasonable and welcomed by the students," Finkelstein said.

More on the candidates

Check out profiles for individual candidates currently published on Patch:

How to vote in West Bloomfield

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