Confused by new school schedule

I am completely confounded at the school system in Moorpark this year. I have one child at the high school, two at the middle school, and one in elementary.

This year the high school changed its starting time to one hour later on Wednesdays. The middle school starts one hour later on Fridays. The elementary school starts 15 minutes earlier for fifth graders every day, and on Fridays they all get out an hour-and-a-half early. Try to be a parent tracking of all these changes.

A letter was sent out explaining these time changes as a way to "provide the structured time for subject area teachers to get together to create and refine meaningful and effective instructional lessons and assessments." I was always under the impression that's what teacher in-service days were to accomplish.

The middle school starts at 9 a.m., which is too late, and now it starts at 10 a.m. on Fridays which is way too late. My two sons sit home Friday mornings, watching television, playing computer or video games, simply waiting for school to start. They have already done their chores and the homework that they were given the previous day. What else are they supposed to do? Ask any educator if this is a good way for a child to start a school day.

Something must also be done about the buses still running on the regular schedule so kids arrive at school more than an hour in advance of the starting time. This is just a disaster waiting to happen.

Since moving to Moorpark six years ago, I have adjusted to the fact that the elementary school gets out early on Fridays. Why can't the high school and middle school let out early also?

What was the school system thinking when they made these changes? Did they not take into consideration that parents and caregivers have schedules, too? Did they consider what working parents were going to do with their kids during these changed hours? Did they not think about the affect this would have on students, as most students work best on routines and schedules that do not change.

I would like to hear what other parents in Moorpark think of this change. Am I alone in this bafflement, or are there others?

I will let other parents make a complaint about the supposed "required hours" of instruction time. Why can't the teacher stay after school for their "collaboration time," or maybe address the bizarre bus schedules and stops, and why the older students must pay to use the same bus that the elementary kids use for free, or possibly the peculiar rotating schedule for the middle school. Let your thoughts be known.

Please voice your opinion by writing to the newspaper. Send a copy to the Moorpark Unified School Board, District Superintendent Ellen Smith, at 5297 Maureen Lane, Moorpark, CA 93021, and/or call them at (805) 3786300, and/or email the district superintendent at esmith@ mrpk.org.

Our taxes pay for our children's education, and the school board should be made aware of the undue headaches and problems they are causing the parents and the students. J. Ustach Moorpark