Superintendent of Schools Thomas Scarice sent this update to all Westport Public Schools families today. It addresses — among other items — campus access, cell phones, redistricting, security and transportation. He writes:
Living with two high school teenage boys, I can fully relate to the challenge of keeping our kids fully engaged until the last day of school. As I look at the calendar, I see that we have just about three weeks left of the 2023-2024 school year. The weather is turning and our collective attention span is pointing towards summer. In the spirit of a strong finish, we ask for your partnership in keeping our students engaged over the final few weeks.
Here are some updates for our school community:
Graduation Date and Official Last Day of School
Staples will host the Graduation of the Class of 2024 on the evening of June 10. As a result of two snow days, the official last day of school is June 14.
Campus Access During School Hours
Recently, our Chief of Police, Foti Koskinas, and I made recommendations to the Parks and Recreation Commission, the Board of Selectwomen, and a number of RTM Subcommittees, to restrict access to school grounds from 7:30am-4:15pm.
Superintendent of schools Thomas Scarice.
This recommendation was made to keep school grounds accessible only to faculty, students, and invited guests (i.e. those attending scheduled events, deliveries, parent/guardian meetings/business, etc.).
This recommendation was met with a petition from a community member to the RTM requesting to modify the parameters, thereby putting these new regulations on hold until the RTM rules on the matter. It is expected that this matter will be resolved at the June 4 RTM meeting.
If the petition is rejected, the new regulations will go into effect. If the petition is approved, modifications will be reconsidered. More to come after the June 4 RTM meeting.
Student Cell Phones/Wearable Technology
Interest has grown nationally, regionally, and here in Westport regarding student cell phones/wearable technology in schools. This topic has garnered a great deal of attention in the form of articles in national publications, and the release of a recent book that covers this topic in detail, “The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt.
In response, last week I asked the Board of Education to include this topic on the agenda for open discussion. I have not made a recommendation, and given the polarizing nature of the topic, I believe it is important to surface this matter in the public to better understand the range of perspectives. Additionally, student and faculty perspectives are important to consider and I intend to work to understand those as well.
To be clear, there is no definitive plan in place for the 2024-2025 school year, yet I would like to pursue this further as I see this as a critically important matter that impacts all in the school community.
The Board of Education asked me to provide a recommendation on the practice of student owned technology devices in the school setting. I will provide that for the June 6 Board of Education meeting and will share that with the community. As with all topics, discussion and debate will then ensue.
I encourage you to stay involved on this matter, and to share your thoughts if you are so inclined via email to my attention (tscarice@westportps.org), or to the attention of the Westport Board of Education (boe@westportps.org), or by sharing public comment at the Board of Education meeting as the community engages in this dialogue.
Redistricting Site
As the district embarks on the redistricting of our elementary schools we have developed a tab on our website with general information and FAQs. Please visit this site for more information.
School Security Reminder
We are all polite and accommodating when entering our schools. Often, these courtesies extend to holding open doors for each other when entering the building. As much as we encourage this measure of kindness, we ask that you do not hold open doors for others on the way into our schools.
The district maintains a protocol employing a school visitor management system that scans and screens each visitor’s identification information against the sex offender registry and other databases. I understand it is counterintuitive, but I ask that we all honor our visitor management protocol.
Transportation App
I want to recognize the work and performance of our transportation provider, First Student. This week local blogger Dan Woog recognized the performance of our new team with this “Unsung Heroes” story where the district hosted a Driver Appreciation Breakfast. The move to First Student proved to be very successful after the expected trials at the beginning of the transition.
One element of this transition that continues to get attention is the use of our transportation app, FirstView. Although there are many families benefiting from the use of this app during those precious morning minutes, there are improvements yet to be made. That will be a focus for the upcoming school year. As a reminder, if bus routes are combined, the app will not track your child.
I will likely provide one more update to the school community prior to the end of the school year. In the meantime, I hope that each of you have a restful and relaxing long weekend with your families.
“The district maintains a protocol employing a school visitor management system that scans and screens each visitor’s identification information against the sex offender registry and other databases.” What does that mean in English? Specifically, what is the “school visitor management system,” what exactly is “each visitor’s identification” and how exactly it it screened?
Still wondering where the students of LLS will be going during construction, as there’s no way to have this rule in play “legally” during a large construction project !
Should be interesting.
How wonderful to have a Superintendent that communicates so openly with the community and families.