Barstow school district employees vote to start school after Labor Day

BARSTOW — The next school year is well on its way to starting after Labor Day.

This week, teachers and classified employees at the Barstow Unified School District voted to start the 2008-2009 school year on September 2 instead of August 18. The decision was not close — more the 200 votes separate the two options. However the issue of when to start school generates heated debates at Bartow’s school sites.

“Sometimes, surprisingly, it goes to blows (figuratively),” said Brandon Baily, a foreign language teacher at Barstow High School. “In the past, it has been an absolute yelling match.”

Baily, who is in favor of starting school before Labor Day, found himself on the losing side of the debate this year. He said the late start puts students at am academic disadvantage and compromises the health of Barstow’s teachers. With several other districts in the area, including Silver Valley, starting in August, Baily does not understand the merits behind starting in September.

“I believe our school district is moving backward instead of forward,” Baily said. “It’s just disadvantageous to our students.”

Others, and based on the vote, a majority, disagree with Baily’s arguments. Don Braden, the chair of Barstow High School’s English program, thinks school in Barstow should always start after Labor Day. He said for many years now, a small group of teachers have tried to shift the start date to August with arguments he contends do not have merit.

To each point raised by Baily and his supporters, Braden had a response and claimed their reasons do not hold water. Starting early also costs the school money, added Nadine Bengel, the district’s library media facilitator. She said with the state’s budget in disarray, the district cannot be making decisions that waste money.

“When we started before Labor Day, we had lower attendance and higher utility bills,” she said.

The start of the school year can change each year. A calendar committee develops a schedule each year, presents it to the unions who then have the district staff vote. For the first time in several years, the 2007-2008 school year started after Labor Day, said Susan Levine, assistant superintendent for personnel services at the district. However, each year, the start date is in limbo, something Levine sees as detrimental no matter when the school year starts.

“We need to have some consistency, for the city, for the parents to know when school is starting,” she said.

Consistency may be in the works. Along with voting for which schedule teachers preferred, they also voted on whether they wanted the schedule to remain consistent for two years. That stipulation also passed the employees vote.

A heated debate: point, counter-point

Teacher Brandon Baily thinks school should start in August. Teacher Don Braden couldn’t disagree more, believing school should start in September. Here’s why.

In favor of August
• School ends too late in the spring and students cannot sign up for Barstow Community College spring and summer classes.
• Testing bunches up, forcing some students to take the state standards test, the high school exit exam and Advance Placement tests in the same time period.
• Most other High Desert districts start in August.
• The year isn’t spread out, giving students and teachers less days off during the year to recover and recharge.
• Concerns of heat, lack of air conditioning and long hot bus rides can be solved in other ways than just starting when it begins to cool off in September.

Reasons for starting in August expressed by Brandon Baily, Barstow High School foreign language teacher.

In favor of September
• Few — seldom more than 10 — students show an interest in taking courses at BCC in the spring and summer of their senior year. Moving the start to August benefits a small percentage of the school.
• Testing would not bunch up if teachers stayed on course and taught the syllabus. The state standards test must always start about 150 days after the start of school anyway.
• The Barstow Unified School District does not have follow other districts. Historically, school has always started after Labor Day in Barstow. Parents follow this trend whether school has started or not and attendance rates are much lower during school days leading up to Labor Day.
• Teachers do not need days off during the school year to recharge. A sizable summer vacation is the best way to prepare for the upcoming year.
• August is the hottest time of the year in Barstow. Some schools do not have air conditioning. Buses do not have air conditioning. Holding classes in the August heat generates high utility bills.

Reasons for starting in September expressed by Don Braden, chair of the Barstow High School English program.

The vote: Before labor day | After labor day
Barstow teachers: 91 169
Barstow classified employees: 57 198

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4121 or aaron_aupperlee@link.freedom.com