FCPS Says Schools Survey Lacks Credibility Because of Security Issue

A Fairfax County Public Schools official warned that an online district survey —which —should not be considered a ringing endorsement for changing the bell schedule for the county’s 25 regular high schools.  

Paul Regnier, schools spokesman, said insufficient security controls in the , launched this summer by , would make it easy for those supporting later times to vote repeatedly, skewing the results. Each voter was allowed to cast 10 ballots, according to controls on the Web site. The online discussion continues to be dominated by the school bell schedules, with 2,600 votes (in at least three separate threads) in favor of starting school later in the day.

“There was no way to stop the people from calling all their friends and having them vote in favor of the later school times,” Regnier said. “There was no control in there to prevent people from voting over and over. Among the many responses is ‘restore dodge ball to elementary school playgrounds.’”

Phyllis Payne, co-founder of SLEEP (Start Later for Excellence in Education Proposal)—which has advocated for later high school starting times—said there was no foul play by her group. The online tallies illustrate a problem that the school board has yet to find a solution for, she said, noting that the that 90 percent of county high school students weren't getting enough sleep.

“We know that teens in this county are sleep deprived and we are asking the school system to work with us to find a solution that works for teens and younger children,” Payne said. “Surrounding districts have found solutions.”

The online discussion forum invited Fairfax County employees, parents and citizens to discuss a broad question throughout the school year, "What is the most important thing that Fairfax County Public Schools should do to move it forward to prepare our children for the future?" Participants can either vote for a new idea or create an existing one. 

Regnier acknowledged that the results were not necessarily what the district was looking for.

“The superintendent asked an open-ended question,” Regnier said. “To put it bluntly, we wanted to get new ideas that we haven’t talked about and thought about. We were looking for new ideas for how to educate our children. This was not a new idea.”

Other community surveys, taken by independent groups, have showed considerable support for later starting times. For example, the 2008 Fairfax County Council of PTAs survey showed that only 15 percent of survey respondents preferred the current schedule over a generic alternative starting schedule, Payne said.

However, Regnier pointed to a previous 2009 school district survey, which he said was more carefully controlled and showed no support for later starting times.  

“A survey specifically about start times was given to students, and another to parents and employees,” Regnier said. “In surveys, respondents opposed changing start times. This was a carefully prepared and conducted survey on this particular topic, not an invitation to mention any improvement that might come to mind. We downloaded and checked results daily to prevent "ballot box stuffing."

Payne pushed back, saying that the 2009 survey had serious flaws. It was geared to measuring the public’s response to a specific, and unsound, proposal for later starting times, called “Iteration 3,” which had multiple problems that SLEEP had identified, she said.

“The survey asked respondents their opinion of the specific bell times in Iteration 3,” Payne said. “It made no attempt to determine which specific bell times within Iteration 3 were acceptable and which were not.”

“One question the survey should have asked but didn’t was whether 7:20 a.m. is an acceptable start time for high school students,” Payne said. “Parents were not asked how much sleep their children get each night whether the current high school schedule affects their child’s health.”

Fundamental to the current discussion over the online forum is that it has reinvigorated an ongoing debate over the high school starting times that some school officials sought to put to rest, Payne said.

The results of the discussion will be left to the school board to discuss, Regnier said.

If nothing else, the superintendent’s online exercise has generated buzz in the community. The discussion section of the survey, where voters can add detailed comments about the idea of changing starting times, was lively and at times bordered on uncivil. Most comments were anonymous and some took to calling the later-sleeping time supporters a “self-appointed group of busybodies” and “callous.”

The on added significance with the upcoming school board elections in November which could dramatically change the school board. Half of the 12 incumbents are not seeking reelection and some candidates are saying that the vote represents a choice between change and continuity in the Washington region’s largest school system.