Majority of Older Students Prefer Early Dismissal;
Teachers Narrowly Prefer Late Arrival

By Jamie Dodson ( November 20, 2003)

Students and teachers differ in their opinions about "late arrival" Wednesdays, with 62 percent of students in grades 10 through 12 preferring to return to "early dismissal" Wednesdays, while a slim majority of teachers want to maintain late arrivals, according to a Lasso Online survey.

This year for the first time, the high school changed the schedule by opening late the second and fourth Wednesdays of every month rather than dismissing students early on those days. The short Wednesday schedules are needed to provide time for department meetings and professional development for teachers.

Under the new schedule, teachers begin their meetings at 7:30 a.m. and complete them by 8:45, 15 minutes before their first class.begins at 9. The reasons that the change was put into effect vary. One reason had to do with concern over the number of students who remained in school unsupervised for nearly two hours each short Wednesday afternoon while teachers were in meetings and students who were involved in after-school activities waited for their sports or clubs to convene. In addition, Dr. Rochelle Friedman, principal of the middle school, told Lasso Online, "The idea came up at a team meeting and was brought to team/team for discussion and recommendation. Middle and high school administrators discussed the idea in a joint meeting and proposed bringing the idea to their respective faculties. The middle school faculty unanimously endorsed the late arrival concept. We believe that first thing in the morning teachers are fresh and professional development is more meaningful." 
 

Lasso Online surveyed 101 students grades 10 through 12 in randomly selected teacher advisor groups and asked whether they preferred late arrival or early dismissal. Sixty-two percent of the respondents voted for early dismissal and 35 percent preferred the new schedule. A few students voted against both.choices. Of 43 seniors who voted, 25 preferred to go back to early dismissal, 17 voted for late arrival. Juniors voted 11 for late arrival and 10 for early dismissal. Thirty-seven sophomores voted, 28 to return to early release and only 8 preferred the late arrival. 

(In a separate, similar survey given to a smaller sample of ninth graders, 62 percent of the freshmen preferred late arrival, 37 percent favored early dismissal. Lasso Online originally intended not to survey ninth graders as they do not have early dismissal experience for comparison purposes. But, in the interest of fairness, we decided to note the ninth grade results. All surveys were conducted after students and teachers had experienced three late arrival Wednesdays.). 

Forty teachers, or approximately 57 percent of the high school staff, returned the survey. Of these respondents, 20 voted for late arrival, 19 for early dismissal and one indicated that there should not be either.

The major reasons provided by those staff members who voted to maintain the current late arrival system were that the new system makes for more efficient use of time as the morning meeting times are tightly structured and must end precisely on time before morning classes begin. Wrote one teacher, "It (late arrival) is more productive for students and for us. .We’re not brain dead and we’re more on task to work on the meeting’s objectives."

Another wrote, "I like to work with my colleagues early in the morning." Another proponent of late arrival wrote, "Staff meetings before school have clear ending times, requiring us to stay focused and complete our agendas in a timely manner." 

"It’s nice to have time in the morning to get work done with minimal disruption," wrote one teacher. ."Meetings are kept to a reasonable length. All literature says that teenagers’ (biological) clocks are more in tune with a late start," noted another.

The teachers who voted for early dismissal indicated that they found it challenging to sit through morning meetings when they needed the time to plan and get ready for their classes. "It would be refreshing to enter a meeting without worrying about what I was doing in the classes that day. Meetings are too rushed in the mornings to try to get ready for school." Another teacher wrote, "I find it very hard to orient to the day with the late arrival." ."I don’t like worrying about getting ready for class while I’m in a meeting. The end of the day is easier for focusing on the meeting," wrote another teacher. One teacher observed that "it is easier for consultants and speakers to come in at the end of the day, rather than at 7:30 in the morning, fighting traffic."

Students who preferred late arrivals attributed their preference primarily to the opportunity for extra sleep and to the fact that they no longer need to wait around for an hour and a half if they have afternoon sports. "I play sports and early release is useless to me as I have to return to school," wrote one student. "I like sleeping in, I need the sleep, and on early dismissal Wednesdays I had to come back for sports practices which was a pain," wrote another.

Students who would prefer to return to early dismissal primarily said that they liked the extra time after school to get ahead on their homework or to be with friends. "Getting out early helps with homework and after-school activities," wrote one student whose thoughts represented many others’. "Sleep is nice, but I happen to like my extra after-school free time," wrote another student.