It's working well," Chiengkham Thao, a Madison East High School freshman, says of a new anti-truancy policy that bars freshmen from leaving campus for lunch. On Thursday, he showed how he's mastering the freshman-only lunch shift. He downed this pizza and milk within five minutes, but threw away the orange and hustled to biology class, arriving just 10 seconds late.
Chiengkham Thao says it's working.
Anna Toman and Moises Diaz think it's got problems.
They and the 420 or so members of their Madison East High School freshman class find themselves part of a grand experiment - the first Madison high school in at least a dozen years to close its campus.
The school's 1,400 older students still are allowed to lounge outside during their 30-minute lunch break.
Better yet, they're able to jump into cars for a dash from 2222 E. Washington Ave. to Burger King, McDonald's or Taco Bell.
But for East's freshmen, there's one choice for lunch - the cafeteria - as school officials attempt to reduce the school's truancy rate.
Although they made up only about a fourth of the student body, freshmen last year accounted for more than 40 percent of East's truancy, defined as unexcused absences from three or more periods on five days.
And many of those truant freshmen cited influences from older students as a factor in skipping class.
East Principal Alan Harris said the issue is urgent because national research shows success in ninth grade sets students up for a smooth path through high school.
Three weeks into the school year, East's new policy is generating hefty helpings of scorn and praise from students, while school officials are monitoring its impact upon freshmen and older students. Data will be analyzed after the first semester.
"I don't have a problem with it," Chiengkham said Thursday at lunch.
Now freshmen are alone in the cafeteria for a lunch period, while members of the other three classes share the second lunch period. About 250 of those older students are in off- campus programs during lunch, reducing the crunch in the cafeteria, but it's still a frenetic scene during both lunch periods.
Chiengkham sat at a table and joked, often speaking Hmong, with nine friends and helped one with math as he patiently waited for the longest line - the one serving pizza - to shrink.
He knew only one of these boys before school began - an indication that the freshman-only lunch is helping forge connections among classmates who last year attended three middle schools.
At 11:38 a.m., 12 minutes before he was due in biology class, Thao joined the line. He got his meal at 11:42.
Within five minutes, he'd consumed a slice of sausage pizza and a carton of milk, thrown away an orange, grabbed his backpack and begun chugging up two floors of stairs.
Out of breath, Thao paused at a water fountain before arriving - 10 seconds late - in Room 346.
Other students view the closed campus differently.
Freshman Anna Toman said the new policy forces older students to wait too long for lunch.
Freshman Moises Diaz argued that older students have scant time to exert negative influence on freshmen. "Lunch is only half an hour and most of it is standing in line," he said.
LaBasha McKinley, a sophomore, said the lines are so long that she usually just goes hungry until after school. Still, she favors the change for freshmen because last year she was intimidated by older students who walked up to her while she was standing in line and asked pointedly, "Are you done?"
Lorena Barbosa-Mireles, a junior, said freshmen could handle themselves.
"I don't think we should be babying them and giving them their own lunch," she said.
Lorena acknowledged, however, that she had an advantage of older brothers who watched out for her.
Travis Wlodarczyk, a senior, said the change seems to be in conflict with the school district's new wellness policy because it could prompt increasing numbers of older students to gulp fast food to avoid the crowded cafeteria.
Or, he said, they might simply wait until after school to head to a fast-food place, leaving them listless in afternoon classes.
"If you're going hungry, you don't have that energy," Travis said.
Caleb Crossley, a senior, said the freshman-only lunches make sense but the lunch lines must be shortened.
Caleb, Travis and Lorena all admitted they rely upon a secret weapon to avoid those sluggish lines: Homemade peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Dan Wiltrout, a state Department of Public Instruction expert in truancy and attendance, said districts around the state need to rely upon local data when forging strategies. It's important, he said, to determine who's skipping school, and why. Truants "believe that no one cares," Wiltrout said.
Statewide, he noted, truancy problems rise in the ninth grade but peak in the 11th grade.
School districts in Wisconsin sometimes close high school campuses for all grades or freshmen, while many others remain open campuses, according to spot checks by the Green Bay School District. The state doesn't gather such data.
After an intensive study, Green Bay officials this year decided to take the opposite approach, and kept the campuses open while providing social workers to aid class- skipping students.
It made no sense to bar freshmen from leaving school: They had the best attendance record, said Barbara Dorff, Green Bay's director of student services.
Still, she said, given the high truancy rate among Madison East's freshmen, closing the campus "may be the solution for them."
No comments:
Post a Comment