BY DANA DiFILIPPO
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati Public Schools administrators are trying an unusual strategy against discipline problems at Withrow High School: They plan to stagger students' dismissal times.
Starting this fall, some Withrow students will be dismissed at 2:10 p.m., while the rest will get out at 3 p.m.
Withrow's request for the staggered dismissals arose from Principal Dennis Matthews' desire to abolish study halls.
"Study hall is a waste of human time," he said. "When it's at seventh bell, most of the kids don't even go. They go hang out on Madison Road or at Rookwood Pavilion, and then I have neighbors calling to complain. The kids that do go to study hall do nothing." Withrow teachers by contract have to teach six periods a day, but the 1,500-student school in Hyde Park has seven periods, Mr. Matthews said. That seventh period typically is used as a study hall.
If administrators schedule more study halls during the last period, those students can leave early -- and catch a 2:10 p.m. bus rather than hanging out waiting for the 3 p.m. bus, Mr. Matthews said.
The change also will free teachers to call parents, he said. Staggering dismissal times will cost $29,000 in transportation and related costs, district business executive Steven Ottemann said.
Taft High School administrators requested the same change, but additional buses were not available, he said.
Withrow will serve as a test to determine whether the staggered dismissals help administrators discipline. If successful, it will be implemented at Taft and other schools that request the change, Mr. Ottemann said.
