By ANTHONY BOTTAN
-- Valley Stream Central High School District Superintendent Dr. Marc Bernstein recommended to the school board that campus be closed for ninth graders, effective by the start of the 2008-09 school year. Though ninth graders do not drive, Bernstein said, the West Hempstead death partially motivated his decision to recommend closing the school campus to those students. Plus, he said, there is an additional risk with students in the ninth grade. "I see no good reason for them to be out during their lunch hour," he said. "I do not think it will negatively impact their development."
Bernstein said he had discussions with building administrators on whether ninth graders were ready to have an open campus given their responsibilities as students. By giving them additional responsibilities in a developmentally sound way, he said, it could help them get ready for an open campus in grades 10-12. Bernstein added that there is an ongoing problem with ninth graders returning to class late after their lunch period, and it takes considerable administrative energy to monitor them.
If the recommendation is accepted by the board, Memorial Junior High School would have a completely closed campus. President of the Central High School District Board of Education, Ken Cummings, said that at Memorial it was disruptive having one-third of the school out and not coming back on time during lunch periods. The issue of lateness is also a prevalent problem at North and South High schools. "It made sense to explore and look into this," Cummings said. "We certainly are in favor of listening to it and looking into the costs and advantages."
The disadvantage, Bernstein said, was an idea Trustee Theodora Egbuchalam brought up during the May 13 board meeting. She said she felt ninth graders were mentally ready to have the responsibility of leaving campus for lunch, and if that responsibility were taken away, it could limit their growth. Bernstein disagreed.
"There are some that believe eighth graders should have more responsibility in managing their time," Bernstein said. "I believe that is true, but it need not start in ninth grade."
The superintendent said the Valley Stream Central High School District is in the minority in having an open campus for anyone other than seniors, but that is partially due to the lack of space the schools have to keep all grades on campus. Bernstein said that if the recommendation is accepted, the district would have to buy additional cafeteria tables for the three schools that the closed campus would affect, and would cost anywhere from $25,000 to$35,000.
The district sent out a Request for Proposal to find a new food vendor, and Bernstein added that he has made clear to potential bidders they must have sufficient personnel to handle the extra students in the cafeteria.
Bernstein said the principals in the district are in favor of the recommended change and that part of the district's job is to help students transition from high school into college or the workforce, which can be done in more than one way. "We help students transition from high school in a variety of ways by providing them different types of activities so that they have to assume different levels of responsibility," Bernstein said.
The possibility of restricting students from using their cars during the school day was also on last Tuesday's agenda but was not discussed at length. Bernstein said that might be a discussion topic at a later time.
The recommendation will be discussed again at the June 3 committee meeting, and a formal recommendation by Bernstein will be made on June 10. At that meeting, Bernstein said he will tell board members that they must act by the July 15 board meeting for a change to become effective for the 2008-09 school year.
