[0:04] Hey everybody, this is Cararissa Kester

[0:06] from Stillwater Area Public Schools,

[0:08] home of the ponies, and you are

[0:09] listening to Pony Voices. On this show,

[0:12] we celebrate the amazing people of

[0:14] Stillwater Schools and give you an

[0:16] insider view of what is happening across

[0:18] our district. Not only is our mascot

[0:20] unique, so are our stories. So, grab a

[0:23] cup of coffee, get comfy, and settle in

[0:25] for our latest episode.

[0:32] A new school year is just around the

[0:34] corner and back to school will look a

[0:35] little different for students, staff,

[0:37] and families in the Stillwater Area

[0:38] Public School District. Our middle and

[0:40] high school students get to sleep later.

[0:42] Our elementary students will be waking

[0:44] up a little bit earlier. Phones and

[0:46] devices are being locked up and out of

[0:47] sight, and everyone is starting the

[0:49] school year a few days earlier. We know

[0:51] these shifts come with questions and

[0:53] sometimes some strong opinions. So,

[0:55] we're sitting down with Superintendent

[0:57] Mike Funk to talk about what's changing,

[0:59] why it's happening, and what it all

[1:01] means for the Pony community. Thanks for

[1:03] joining us today, Dr. Funk.

[1:05] Thanks. It's great to be here.

[1:06] Let's start with one of the bigger

[1:08] changes, which I know is one we've been

[1:09] talking about in the district for more

[1:11] than a decade, start times. This fall,

[1:13] our elementary schools will be starting

[1:15] an hour earlier so that our middle and

[1:17] high schools can start later. What

[1:19] prompted the decision to flip-flop

[1:21] school start times? I think if you're to

[1:23] to scan the Twin Cities metropolitan

[1:26] area, Still Water area schools for the

[1:29] past number of years has had uh for

[1:31] their especially for their secondary

[1:33] students has had some of the earliest

[1:34] start times really in the metro and in

[1:36] Minnesota. And if you look at what

[1:38] research says about um what's the best

[1:41] time for an adolescent to go to school,

[1:43] it's pretty clear that it should be

[1:45] after 8:30 um in the morning. And I

[1:48] think this past year and the past number

[1:49] of years, we've started about 7:40 in

[1:51] the in the um high school. Research is

[1:55] also pretty clear that um earlier start

[1:58] times for our younger students is not as

[2:00] impactful on their behaviors and how

[2:03] they perform in school. So what we are

[2:06] doing is we are realigning ourselves

[2:08] with what the research says and one of

[2:11] many of our peer districts are doing and

[2:13] we're flip-flopping the start time. So I

[2:15] believe the elementary will start now

[2:17] around 7:45 and our secondary schools uh

[2:21] middle and high school 8:35 8:45. So um

[2:26] that is a a significant change for some

[2:28] people in the community and but we're

[2:31] doing it um and we're doing all these

[2:33] things this upcoming school year because

[2:35] we are student centered and we're trying

[2:36] to do what's best for kids.

[2:38] So you talk about being student centered

[2:40] and this is best for kids. So talk a

[2:41] little bit about the middle school and

[2:42] high school kids. You said research, but

[2:44] what what does that really look like for

[2:45] kids when they come to school early?

[2:48] Yeah. So, a lot of our students um they

[2:51] not only go to school, but they're in a

[2:53] lot of activities into the evenings. A

[2:56] lot of them have jobs and they stay up

[2:58] pretty late and we ask them to get up

[3:02] very early in the morning and come to

[3:04] school. And if you were to go and visit

[3:06] the high school as as we have done over

[3:08] the past couple years and talk to kids

[3:10] and talk to staff, uh they will tell you

[3:13] that first hour is a struggle for a

[3:16] number of students because they're not

[3:18] fully engaged and awake yet. And you

[3:20] know the other piece is attendance can

[3:23] be an issue when okay I I can't get to

[3:26] school on time because I'm just I had

[3:27] too much going on in my life. And so

[3:30] what we are doing is we are shifting

[3:32] this to the really the bio bio-ythms of

[3:36] the of the adolescent. And so um again

[3:39] it's starting at after 8:30 and

[3:42] providing them a more opportunity to be

[3:43] awake and be more alert for school. And

[3:46] we are hopeful that uh we'll see a

[3:48] couple things out of this. One less

[3:50] student issues during the school day and

[3:52] two we're looking for uh increased

[3:54] academic outcomes for our students.

[3:56] What about the flip side? The elementary

[3:58] students. I hear a lot of feedback that

[3:59] okay, I get it for a secondary, but now

[4:01] my elementary kid is going to have to

[4:03] get up an hour earlier.

[4:04] Yeah. And again, I I I think the

[4:06] research has been pretty clear on that

[4:07] that has not been negative um impactful

[4:10] on the students. The challenge we are

[4:11] going to have, and I'm going to be fully

[4:13] transparent about this, is currently the

[4:16] way we're structured, um our our high

[4:19] school and and middle school students

[4:21] get out first before our elementary

[4:23] students. and so they they can be home

[4:25] for if they're if they have to watch or

[4:27] oversee or babysit their their younger

[4:29] siblings. Um by flip-fpping this, we are

[4:32] not going to have that opportunity. The

[4:34] older kids will still be in school while

[4:35] the younger ones are being released. So,

[4:37] we are adding um positions in our

[4:40] adventure club daycare. We're working

[4:42] with our high school to see if we can

[4:45] have some school to work opportunities

[4:46] for high school students that can help

[4:48] support the daycare options as well. And

[4:50] then we're also looking at maybe some

[4:52] different club opportunities within our

[4:54] schools to provide um options for

[4:57] families at the end of the school day.

[4:59] I know community ed is working really

[5:00] hard to try to come up with extra

[5:02] enrichment things. They're going to have

[5:03] programming Monday through Thursday at

[5:05] all of our schools where kids could stay

[5:06] an extra hour. So I think there are

[5:08] opportunities that um we are creating

[5:10] for families knowing that the logistical

[5:12] side of this is probably the biggest

[5:13] challenge.

[5:14] I think the other thing that's important

[5:15] for the community to know is okay, we're

[5:17] not just going to make this change and

[5:18] not study it. All right. So, we are

[5:20] going to survey. We are going to ask

[5:23] feedback from our staff on how students

[5:25] are doing. We'll look at academic

[5:26] outcomes and and see how they're doing.

[5:29] And then we'll survey families and see

[5:30] how the how the change is met and is it

[5:32] meeting their need as well. Um but our

[5:34] focus is trying to do it for the kids

[5:36] here.

[5:37] Okay. Well, I'm going to switch gears

[5:38] and talk about another um maybe

[5:40] controversial topic, which is the

[5:42] calendar change. Um there's been a lot

[5:44] of chatter in the community because this

[5:45] does look different. It's different than

[5:46] what our neighbors do to start a little

[5:48] bit earlier prior to Labor Day. And um

[5:51] there are some who are eager, they have

[5:53] their kids that are ready even today to

[5:54] go back to school and others who feel

[5:56] like summer's getting cut short for

[5:57] them. So just talk to me a little bit

[5:59] about the goals of moving the school

[6:00] year earlier.

[6:01] So first of all, yes, I will acknowledge

[6:03] for this school year summer has been cut

[6:05] a week short. All right. Compared to

[6:08] where we have been historically,

[6:10] but we're shifting a week. Okay.

[6:12] interesting thing when I came to Still

[6:13] Water. We start school in late in late

[6:17] August before Labor Day. So, we start

[6:20] school already earlier than most of the

[6:23] state, but there was really no rhyme or

[6:25] reason on why we did that. So, uh I

[6:29] suggested to the board that we take a

[6:31] look at two doing one of two things. We

[6:34] either start school after Labor Day like

[6:36] everybody else or we move it up a week

[6:39] and we try to get in extra days of

[6:41] instruction before the winter break. And

[6:44] by doing that, we can do a couple

[6:46] different things that are really

[6:47] advantageous for our students. One, it's

[6:50] going to be hot in August, but if you

[6:52] were to talk to teachers, they would

[6:54] rather have kids in school in August

[6:57] when they're ready to be back at school

[6:59] than they would in June when everybody's

[7:01] ready to go home. So that that's an

[7:04] advantage. Um two, we have high stakes

[7:08] test in the spring for our advanced

[7:10] placement students. We have high stakes

[7:12] test in the spring for our elementary

[7:14] students for MCAs where everyone's

[7:17] looking at how well the district is

[7:18] doing. We are providing more days of

[7:20] instruction prior to those tests. So

[7:23] that's a a a good um fit. Three, when

[7:27] we're to looking at students mental

[7:29] health, all right, our current system is

[7:32] we just inherited because this is what

[7:33] we do. So, we currently go to school

[7:36] until the winter break and then kids

[7:38] take a break and they have all their

[7:41] courses they're still thinking about

[7:42] because they're still having them and

[7:44] then they come back for a few weeks in

[7:46] January and then they take a a final

[7:50] exam on on information they learned um

[7:54] the previous fall and and early winter.

[7:57] Um I don't think there's a college in

[7:59] America that does that. So, why are we

[8:02] doing that with our students? um where

[8:04] we putting this added burden, added

[8:06] stress. If I got homework over the

[8:07] break, now they can have a break, they

[8:10] can be downtime for them and they can

[8:14] spend time with family and friends and

[8:16] not have to worry about that burden. And

[8:18] the last thing is, as I previously

[8:20] mentioned, um it's hard to teach in the

[8:23] late spring in Minnesota. Um, so we will

[8:27] to we will be done before Memorial Day

[8:30] and so PE some people don't like this

[8:32] and it's a it's a shift. Um, but the

[8:35] board is committed to doing it I think

[8:36] for three years to see how the what the

[8:38] community thinks about it. You know, the

[8:40] staff is not sure what they think about

[8:42] it. You know, I think our staff is we we

[8:44] hear both just like you're hearing in

[8:45] the community. So, we're going to give

[8:48] it a shot. Um, and then I would

[8:49] encourage the board whatever they

[8:51] decide. All right. um if we're going to

[8:53] be different than somebody, let's have

[8:55] let's have be a purposeful reason for

[8:57] being different. I think we've been

[8:58] different just because and so this is

[9:01] where uh um something we'll have to take

[9:03] a look at as we move forward.

[9:05] Okay. Well, I had that question. I'm

[9:06] glad you address that that this is not

[9:08] necessarily something forever. It's a

[9:10] let's try it and see what happens and

[9:12] get feedback from our community and from

[9:13] our staff on this.

[9:14] Um

[9:15] and our students

[9:16] and our students too.

[9:17] Um as you're encountering people on the

[9:19] street, I'm sure you're hearing about

[9:20] this. like what are you telling people

[9:21] who are maybe not happy about this or

[9:23] skeptical about this change?

[9:25] Well, you know, one of the big things

[9:26] that I hear is, okay, what about the

[9:28] state fair? And so what I tell people,

[9:31] if you're going to go to the state fair,

[9:33] you're going to go to the state fair.

[9:34] Okay? And if you want to take your kid

[9:35] out a day or two or to go to the state

[9:37] fair, go ahead and do it. Uh but last I

[9:40] checked, the state fair should not be

[9:42] the deciding factor on what's best for

[9:44] kids within our school system. And so,

[9:47] but parents know what's best for their

[9:49] family and parents are going to do what

[9:50] they're going to do and I support that.

[9:51] And if that's what they want to do, we

[9:53] will we will as a school system support

[9:55] the families in that.

[9:56] The only other thing that I've heard

[9:57] from our community that kind of comes up

[9:59] over is just that alignment with summer

[10:01] activities and programs and camps and

[10:03] things that we are off schedule of other

[10:06] districts and other um communities that

[10:08] offer those programmings.

[10:09] One of the biggest things I heard about

[10:11] in the discussion leading up to this was

[10:13] what about sports? What about fall

[10:16] sports? And we really we're starting

[10:18] school about the same time fall sports

[10:19] are kicking off. So, one of the things

[10:21] that we're having to balance is the

[10:24] okay, what if we have double sessions

[10:27] of, you know, practice? What what does

[10:29] that look like? Okay. Well, our coaches

[10:31] are far and away educators and they're

[10:34] smart people and they'll figure it out.

[10:36] Um so um again I think most families as

[10:41] we get into the days in in mid August

[10:44] are ready for their kids to be back in

[10:45] school and um and I can tell you that at

[10:49] the end of May most teachers and kids

[10:52] are ready to be out of school and this

[10:54] kind of aligns with that rhythm. So

[10:56] we'll see how it goes.

[10:57] Okay. So stay tuned. We'll we'll see how

[10:58] this one plays out. Last but not le

[11:01] least, let's talk about cell phones. The

[11:03] school board recently approved a policy

[11:05] that will make all Stillwater area

[11:06] public schools phone and personal device

[11:08] free from bell-to-bell. This includes

[11:10] things like uh smartwatches and AirPods

[11:13] and tablets. Um what concerns led the

[11:16] district to revise this approach to cell

[11:18] phones this year?

[11:19] Again uh we are a student- centered

[11:21] organization and as such we look at okay

[11:25] what are distractions? what causes

[11:27] stress in our students lives and a

[11:30] leading cause of stress is access to the

[11:33] internet, access to social media, um

[11:36] constant communication that is not

[11:38] school focused and this is our attempt

[11:43] as a district working with our families

[11:45] who are partners in this um to really

[11:48] try and do what's best for the mental

[11:50] health of our students. And so really

[11:53] this is a I mean we are being very

[11:56] strict about this that we do not want

[11:58] cell phones used during the day. So I

[12:00] would tell families if you're kids are

[12:03] going to bring them to school we are

[12:04] going to have an opportunity for the

[12:05] kids to secure them in in uh a location

[12:08] within our schools and they'll get them

[12:09] at the end of the day. Um but if they

[12:12] don't need them at school I would not

[12:14] send them to school. Um, but again, it's

[12:16] to really provide an environment where

[12:19] kids are talking to one another rather

[12:21] than looking at a device on their phone

[12:23] and worrying about whatever their phone

[12:26] is has in front of them. So there again

[12:28] there's been a lot of research on this

[12:30] that you know and I think there's

[12:31] legislators throughout the country that

[12:34] are putting various um phone bands in

[12:37] place and our school board has taken a

[12:40] very um

[12:42] I would say bold approach to this and so

[12:45] this is something that uh um it's we're

[12:49] going to have to be it's going to be

[12:51] challenging the first few weeks that we

[12:53] do this but we're if we do it right um

[12:55] it should be a non-issue for students.

[12:57] moving forward.

[12:59] You've talked to students and to staff

[13:00] and families about this. What's what's

[13:02] the response you're hearing?

[13:03] I mean, the initial response is you

[13:04] know, I don't want anyone to take my

[13:06] away my phone and you know, we've talked

[13:08] we've got a student advisory group at

[13:09] the high school we've talked about and

[13:11] then at the end of the discussion

[13:12] they're like, "Yeah, you know what?

[13:13] might be a pretty good idea because the

[13:15] students talk about um they have some

[13:17] some teachers in their class in their

[13:19] schools um who are very strict on phones

[13:22] and they can go to a teacher and

[13:24] everyone's phone's got to be away and

[13:26] it's a it's a much more um focused class

[13:29] and much more engaged. Others not so

[13:31] much. And so I think one of the concerns

[13:34] our teachers have is are we going to be

[13:36] consistent about this? And by saying

[13:38] there's no phones, okay, that's about as

[13:40] consistent as it gets. And so I think

[13:42] the teachers will appreciate that. I

[13:44] know the students will appreciate it,

[13:46] but again it's it's a different, you

[13:49] know, it's a different piece. The other

[13:51] feedback I've heard quite a bit on is

[13:52] from from parents. And that is, well,

[13:55] what if I need to get a hold of my

[13:57] student? Okay. Well, we have to make

[13:59] sure as a school system that we've got

[14:01] system set up so that somebody's

[14:02] answering the phone or um so that we can

[14:06] get messages to the students. And those

[14:08] are some internal things that we have to

[14:09] look at. But, um, you know, I'm I'm

[14:12] getting up there in age, but I I had

[14:15] when I was in school, um, there were no

[14:18] cell phones and parents were able to get

[14:20] a hold of our schools. So, um, I think

[14:23] it's kind of back to the future in that

[14:24] regard.

[14:25] It's interesting. We did a lot of

[14:27] feedback and got um, had conversations

[14:29] and did survey work around to this

[14:31] before the board made their decision.

[14:32] And overwhelmingly, I think people

[14:34] support the idea of keeping phones out

[14:35] of the classroom. They realize that

[14:36] that's not the best thing for kids to be

[14:38] engaged in learning. But the idea of

[14:40] safety and just being able to get a hold

[14:41] of my kid during the day kind of came up

[14:43] over and over with people. Um so it's

[14:46] helpful to know that you can still get a

[14:47] hold of your your child during the day.

[14:48] But what about that safety concern?

[14:50] People are still worried about um

[14:52] something happening in their school and

[14:54] not

[14:54] Yeah. something happening in the school

[14:55] is we want the kids focused on their on

[14:57] the staff members at the school helping

[14:59] them guide them through whatever the the

[15:01] traumatic event may be. And what we find

[15:04] is if something is happening, kids will

[15:07] then text their parents. their parents

[15:08] will then call the school or they'll

[15:10] come to the school and now suddenly

[15:12] rather than addressing the issue at

[15:14] school. We are now having to deal with

[15:18] okay and a number of parents who are

[15:19] upset about what's going on. So we think

[15:22] our kids will actually be safer um

[15:24] because we it will provide us time and

[15:26] focus to do the right thing and then

[15:30] we'll be able to to inform families

[15:32] what's going on after the fact. Um so

[15:35] that we that's where we think we really

[15:37] believe that uh um by not having the

[15:40] phones we will actually create safer

[15:42] environments for our students.

[15:45] So we talked about three pretty

[15:46] significant changes that are happening.

[15:48] Um is there any reason why these are all

[15:50] happening at the same time as we're

[15:51] starting the new school year?

[15:53] Well, you know, anytime you implement

[15:56] change, you need to be methodical and

[16:00] purposeful about how you do it. And so I

[16:02] think the start times and the calendar

[16:06] change we've been talking about for

[16:08] almost two years. And so we've been able

[16:11] to get systems in place, add spots for

[16:14] for adventure club, um prepare our

[16:17] community so if people are going to take

[16:19] vacations, they know what the calendar

[16:20] looks like. Um

[16:23] and if they have to shift their

[16:25] schedules um based upon the student

[16:28] schedule, they've they've had the time

[16:29] to do that. So, I I think that has been

[16:33] a long time coming. I think the cell

[16:36] phones um that just happens to be, you

[16:40] know, something we looked at this past

[16:42] year and again, okay, we want to do

[16:44] what's best for kids in a methodical

[16:47] manner and we're we believe we're ready.

[16:49] We've had committees meeting on how

[16:51] we're going to implement this and we're

[16:53] ready to do it this fall. So, um, yep,

[16:56] it's three things at once, but, uh, you

[16:59] know, this is my fourth year here, so

[17:00] it's not like we're creating all sorts

[17:03] of new things all the time. So, we've

[17:05] been pretty purposeful about, uh,

[17:07] rolling things out.

[17:09] So, if you had one message to leave with

[17:10] families as they're thinking about the

[17:12] the year ahead and the changes in store

[17:14] for them, um, what's your message to

[17:16] families and to students and staff, too?

[17:19] We are student centered

[17:22] and we appreciate the community's

[17:23] flexibility in giving these new um

[17:26] opportunities

[17:28] a chance to best meet the needs of our

[17:30] students um academically and really in

[17:33] support of their mental health.

[17:35] In closing, what's the one thing you're

[17:37] most excited about as we start the new

[17:39] school year?

[17:39] I'm ready to get going. I really am. I I

[17:42] just think, okay, people are all, you

[17:44] know, again, for the start time, for the

[17:46] the calendar change. Well, we've been

[17:48] waiting. We've been waiting and yep,

[17:50] let's go. Let's get it. Let's get

[17:51] started. And I'm excited to see what

[17:55] people think about it throughout the

[17:56] year, and I'm excited to see feedback we

[17:58] get at the end of the at the end of the

[18:00] school year for all these things.

[18:02] Great. Well, thank you so much for

[18:03] talking through some of these um items

[18:05] with us and we are looking forward to

[18:07] starting a new year and welcoming staff

[18:09] and students and families back to school

[18:11] again. Um there is more information on

[18:13] all of the things we've talked about

[18:14] today on our website if people want to

[18:16] learn more about the reasons or even see

[18:17] some of the the research that you

[18:19] mentioned. They can find that on our

[18:20] website at stillwaterchools.org.

[18:23] Thank you.

[18:23] Great. Thanks.

[18:25] If you enjoyed this episode of Pony

[18:26] Voices, please share it with your

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[18:33] time, go ponies.