We were filming a meeting of the Park City School’s Master Planning Committee when someone mentioned that Sally Elliott, former County Council member and prominent member of our community, had sent emails requesting that citizens sign a petition to start a discussion on whether Park City High School and Treasure Mountain School should start later in the day.

We reached out to a Friend who put us in contact with Ms. Elliot. Ms Elliot gave us permission to reprint her email. It’s worth reading:

Dear all,

Though my children and three of my grandchildren are now beyond high school, I recall my continuing struggle to function before the sun is bright. Attached is a body of evidence that my struggle is medically demonstrated and applicable to a broad swath of the population.

If you feel compelled, it would be helpful to a large number of citizens and students in the Park City School District if you would sign the petition to at least have a broad discussion about starting school at a later hour.

This came to me from John Hanrahan who has children of an age to benefit from your efforts. He says:

If you only have time to take one action today to help our teens thrive in school, please sign the petition to start PCHS and TMMS later, through the link below, and send it on to all your friends! Yes that only counts as one action :). Our starting email list is 20, our petition goal is 300!

If you have more time to benefit the kids, send an email to the School Board and superintendent Dr Ember Conley, letting them know what you want. There are several links attached with great info and research showing the numerous benefits of a later start time for TMMS and PCHS.

If you want to go even bigger, send a letter to the editor as well, and gather more research articles for our ‘library’ and future presentations. Call or email with any questions or thoughts, thanks. 

http://www.startschoollater.net/ this website has lots of useful information

As of now the petition has over 345 signatures. Having read the links Dr Hanrahan provided, the benefits of starting school later are generally that kids learn more and it’s better for their health. Secretary of Education Arney Duncan even tweeted his agreement with the concept. Yet, what was interesting was the reaction from some of the educators in the meeting we were attending, when news broke of Ms Elliott’s email. Their response was that given a choice, kids would choose to start earlier. The stat quoted was something like 75-80% of kids would start earlier because they wanted to work or ski. In effect they were saying “this later start time isn’t something we should even look at pursuing.”

If 70% of High School kids said they would like beer served at Prom, would they do that too? If 95% of kids said having sex in the next week was important to them, would the next PC CAPS group start working on their own version of TINDER to make it easier for our students to hook up? Probably not. It seems our school district prides itself on evidence based learning… except perhaps when it’s inconvenient.

We don’t know know that later start times would benefit our community as a whole. However, we do know that there seems to be enough evidence that a discussion is warranted.

We hope Dr Hanrahan’s efforts, and Ms Elliot’s communication of the issue, at least lead to a community meeting on the subject where data can be presented and parents’, teachers’, and childrens’ opinions can be freely expressed.

Here are links to documents attached in Ms Elliott’s email:

AAP policy statement

F Edwards research on achievement gap

Impact_of_School_Start_Time

Ever heard of the $600 hammer that the Federal Government routinely purchases? $600 for a $12 hammer is a great deal…. if you are selling it.

It appears that hammer is coming to Park City (and our schools) in the form of a potential bond for Treasure Mountain School.

As you may know, the School District wants to tear down Treasure Mountain Junior High and build a new school. As part of this, there are a number of “side” projects that may be included like a new School District Office, a space for PC CAPS, a Fieldhouse for the High School, and more.

You may be in full support of this initiative or you may not. However, what we are probably all in agreement of is that public funds should be used in the most efficient manner possible. The better we use our money on schools, the better schools we get. We can pay teachers more, get better facilities, put more programs in place for our kids, or we save for a rainy day.

Yet, what we saw this Thursday during the Park City School District’s (PCSD) Master Planning Committee Meeting disturbed us.

It is beyond just ‘likely’ that the School District will issue a bond for a rebuild of Treasure Mountain School. The Park City School District has hired a firm called VCBO to plan for a rebuild of the school. On Thursday, employees of VCBO were in attendance at the PCSD meeting.

They were asked by Todd Hansen, PCSD Building’s Director, what the cost was for a new school school. Here is the exchange:

Todd Hansen (to VCBO Planning Group): Hey guys, the cost for building right now is about…what… a hundred…?

VCBO: $160 to $180 [per square foot]

Todd Hansen: [So] $180 to $160 depending on how elaborate you get.

VCBO: It depends on the economy. We are not back up ’07. It might be by the time you all do this.

Todd Hansen: The Longer we wait the more expensive the money is.

VCBO: If I was going to do it we’d calculate for a bond election at $250.

So, the cost right now is $160-$180 per square feet. Yet if VCBO were to determine the costs for rebuilding related to a bond election they would recommend $250 per square feet? They would recommend that Park City and Snyderville Basin Citizens citizens sign up for paying $70-$90 more per square foot than today’s rate? By the way, that’s 38%-50% higher than today.

Why would VCBO ever do that?

First, this is purely speculation. So we don’t know for sure. But here are some ideas:

1. Perhaps they think that in 12 months it will cost 50% more to build something in Park City.
2. Perhaps they want to give the builder (whoever that is) a little leeway.
3. Perhaps they are doing a solid for Park City Schools. If the bond is $80 million and they only need $50 million to build the school then PCSD can use the rest to build other things like PC CAPS buildings.
4. Perhaps VCBO believes they will aso get the contract for building the school. What better way to ensure top dollar than to plan for a school at $250 per square foot and then get the contract for building it… at $250 a square foot.

Again, we don’t know for sure. We are speculating. Perhaps they are just trying to prepare us for massive inflation. We don’t know.

Our further concern stems from conflicts of interests related to the planner versus builder of the new school. As we sat in meetings, PCSD Master planning Committee Co-chair Rory Murphy was fairly adamant that he was not in favor of the Planner and Builder being the same company. The rest of the committee seemed to zone off … seemingly watching the finale of Two and Half Men. We reached out a planner we knew and they confirmed Mr. Murphy’s concerns were not out in left field. It seems both making a plan and fulfilling that plan can introduce conflicts of interest.

Where we are right now is that VCBO is planning the project. From what we have seen, VCBO’s Planner, Molly Smith, is exceptional at her job. She will have Park City folks wondering why they aren’t rebuilding all South Summit schools too, when she is done. The bond will pass and then they’ll need someone to build the new Treasure Mountain school. Who is the best person to do this? Probably someone who has a lot of experience in the community!!! VCBO.

We reached out to someone with intimate knowledge of planning and the person indicated that since VCBO got the planning contract it may stop some other companies from applying, because they assume that VCBO has got the rest. That’s not VCBO’s fault… it sounds like it’s just the way it is. So, we’d guess VCBO is already the front runner for construction.

The issue with VCBO planning the project and then bidding on construction is that they have influenced the project. In this specific case, they have influenced the perceived price — and in a dramatic fashion. Is that a conflict of interest? We, as citizens, need to decide.

We see two paths that restore the public’s confidence. Either VCBO is removed IMMEDIATELY from planning or VCBO is not allowed to bid on construction. They have admitted they would recommend a cost 38%-50% above current levels. Why would we as a community support that, especially given the conflicts.

If you were rebuilding your fence and got 5 bids would you go with the guy who is 50% more? No, you’d probably think he is ripping you off. In this case, we are at the front end of the process. We have a chance to do what’s right and ensure every dollar of money put towards students helps students.

In this case, 20%-50% above current levels seems to be helping someone else.

We believe every dollar of funds spent toward education should somehow benefit the students. We have an opportunity to stop and say “we understand the game. stop.” We need to ensure that our hard earned dollars are spent well. The current arrangements may not afford that or the public interest.

When the Bear Hollow development was created, a certain portion of the land was given to the Park City School District. This week the school district’s Director of Buildings & Grounds, Todd Hansen investigated the land. His initial impressions appear to validate that’s it’s likely a viable spot for a new 5th/6th grade school (to replace Treasure Mountain). His calculation accounted for 1,000 kids and 110,000 square feet. This would be across two levels and would fit on the land (including parking). He did note that this would have to go through County Planning procedures, due to the nature of the original Bear Hollow Agreement.

It is good that the Master Planning Committee is exploring all alternatives. We do question the addition to traffic on 224 but at least we see the group exploring the possibilities, which is good.

The map below shows where the site is located. It is right before Bear Hollow, and below UOP, when you are driving into town. It is the circle in red: