Superintendent Clayton Wilcox's decision came on the heels of one-sided reaction in his blog and a Times survey.
By THOMAS C. TOBIN, Times Staff Writer
Published December 5, 2005
Pinellas school superintendent Clayton Wilcox has pulled the plug on a controversial plan to overhaul school schedules next year.
Wilcox announced the move late Monday after calling school board members. He also planned to notify parents in an automated phone call Monday night to 112,000 households in the district.
His decision ended a move that appeared to have early and strong support. Many parents had complained about the 7:05 a.m. start time for high schools, and five of seven board members liked the new plan enough at a Nov. 15 workshop to tell Wilcox to come back with more information.
Developed by a national consultant, the plan was placed on a fast track for a Dec. 13 vote so the district could have start times set before parents begin to select schools under the choice plan starting in February. But a vigorous public backlash from parents and high school students reversed the tide. School board members received hundreds of e-mails, calls and personal appeals. Wilcox elicited more than 1,400 responses on the blog he hosts on the St. Petersburg Times Web site.
A Times poll published Sunday found that 74 percent of elementary school parents favored the current elementary start times, most of which fall between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. Only 20 percent liked the consultant's proposal to start elementaries at 7:30 a.m.
Fifty-six percent of high school parents favored the current start time of 7:05 a.m. while only 34 percent preferred the proposal to start high school classes at 9:15 a.m. or 9:30 a.m. Seventy percent of high school parents cited after-school jobs and activities as the reason they liked the current start time.
At present, high school students are dismissed between 1:30 p.m. and 1:50 p.m. Under the proposed change, students would not have been dismissed until after 3 p.m. - too late, many said, to cram in activities, jobs and homework.
Wilcox said the Times poll was the "last straw" leading to his decision. He said it validated what the school district had been hearing from other sources.
"Clearly, we serve the community and we can't provide a service that people don't want," he said.
