If you have comments or concerns about the Mast Way bus policy, here is your chance to voice your opinion.
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On December 8th at 9:30am (in the MW library meeting room) and December 9th at 7pm (MW North Commons), Superintendent Howard Colter is inviting parents to a discussion of what lead to the changes for the daily afterschool arrangements and to solicit feedback from parents. Please come and join us for one of these discussions.
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If you cannot make these meetings but want to provide your thoughts, e-mail the Superintendent at: hcolter@orcsd.org
Letter I e-mailed:
ReplyDeleteMr Colter:
Recently, the principle at Mast Way instituted a policy prohibiting parents from using the school bus for playdates. To date, Moharimet has not changed their policy and I appreciate that. Though I am not at Mast Way, I wanted to give my perspective regarding the educational value of playdates. I use after school playdates as a tool to help build my son's social skills. Whether a child has special needs or not, these playdates serve as a wonderful opportunity for learning new skills and having fun. The experience builds not only social skills but requires a child to flexible and adaptable to new situations. For my son, the value of riding a different bus and meeting new children is as important as the playdate itself.
We are a small community and a small school district. Like many other schools in New Hampshire, our size allows us some advantages, like using the bus to get to playdates. In addition, this saves fuel, parent time (at a challenging time of day if you have multiple children!) and limits the number of parents coming to pick up for playdates at school. In fact, by forcing parents to pick up children, the paperwork is in no way lessened.
I am confident that when the administration communicates and brainstorms with parents, many creative solutions can be developed to ease the paperwork for the front office staff, while still allowing children to utilize the bus for playdates. I would like to suggest that the distrcit consider exploring an electronic system or instituting a one note system similar for Moharimet.
Sincerely,
Jenna Roberts
Dear Superintendent Colter,
ReplyDeleteI am writing to encourage you and the Board to help ensure that the district public school bus system is fully utilized to help parents get their children to play dates and other extra curricular activities. My children have (and do) benefit greatly from taking different buses to various activities and friends homes after school (UNH gymnastics, horseback riding and playdates to name a few).
If it has become to much work for the office staff than we need to improve the method of these permissions, not eliminate the utility of the service. We pay for this convenience.
Regards,
--
Nick Isaak
35 Oyster River Rd.
Durham, NH 03824
603-969-6711
Dear Superintendent Colter,
ReplyDeleteI am writing in regards to the change in the Mast Way bus policy.
I urge us to support what is best for the district as a whole. While I understand and support Principal Gallo's desire to help alleviate the workload of the hard working front office, I urge reconsideration of this change in Mast Way policy.
As a district I would hope we have policies across a district, not on a school by school basis. Moharimet as well as the middle and high school allow for students to ride to a friends house. It simply does not make sense that this would not occur at Mast Way.
Moharimet has a system that works, and I would suggest even better effiecient systems are out there. For example, in another neighboring district parents e-mail one school address with their childs bus plan. If the parent does not e-mail by 10am, the child can not take the bus to a friends house. If a parent does not have e-mail they can send in a note. This process eliminates paper waste and duplication of shuffling paperwork.
I appreciate the willingness to meet with parents on this issue, and hope that at all times we will keep in mind what is best for the students of this district.
Thank you, Kim Clark