Allentown Wants in on Summer Hours

Steve Esack:

Under that budget proposal the district would seek to save between $10,000 and $15,000 on energy costs by taking Fridays off during the summer. Chief Financial Officer Trevor Jackson said the savings would come by shutting off air conditioners in all buildings when the four-day work week runs between June 27 and Aug. 12 for year-round administrators, secretaries and maintenance employees.

Joking aside, the plan to start school earlier and end earlier is a terrible, terrible idea:

Allen and Dieruff high schools would go in at 7:30 a.m. and get out at 2:40 p.m. Teachers would begin their work day 10 minutes before students’ arrival.

The biggest changes, however, would be in the middle schools because students would lose a class period.

The start time for sixth- seventh- and eighth-graders would be moved up five minutes to 7:50 a.m. School would end at 2:25 p.m., which means dismissal is 35 minutes earlier than the current schedule. Teachers would start at 7:05 a.m. to give them extra planning time that is needed under the district’s team teaching model, which integrates curriculum across disciplines

Most crimes committed by teenagers happen between when school gets out and when their parents get home. You’re just asking for more gang crimes with a policy like this. Teens also learn better when they’re allowed to sleep longer. What you really want to do is start the school day later and have kids get out at 5, close to when their parents get out of work.