HUNTERS POINT — The school day at Long Island City's P.S./I.S. 78 will start and end 40 minutes earlier this fall, a move that has upset some parents who are calling for the school's previous hours to be reinstated.
Parents say they received letters a few weeks ago informing them that the school day would now begin at 8 a.m. instead of 8:40 a.m. and end at 2:20 p.m. instead of 3 p.m. — a change that some say will cut into quality family time and add childcare costs to their afternoons.
"It completely unsettles the daily routine for most parents," said Kris Schrey, a P.S. 78 parent who also runs the local Long Island City Parents Group.
The change in hours is not unique to P.S. 78: a number of schools are getting earlier starts as a result of provisions in the new teachers' contract, according to a New York Times article published in June.
The new contract includes blocks of time set aside for professional development and parent engagement outside of classroom hours but before 4 p.m., the paper said.
But some parents feel they've been left out of the discussion.
"The real issue is that the de Blasio administration negotiated a contract with the teachers union which systematically excluded parents of public school children from any input or decision-making power regarding issues like this," Schrey said.
An online petition to change back the new school hours at P.S. 78 — first reported by the neighborhood blog LICtalk — had garnered 155 signatures by Tuesday afternoon.
It says the change would cut into quality family time, with time lost not only in the mornings but also in the evenings, since kids will need to go to sleep earlier to be up for school on time.
"Every minute in the morning counts," said Klara Ostrager. "Forty minutes doesn't seem like a lot," she said. "But really it's going to end up being an extra hour of childcare."
In a statement, Department of Education spokeswoman Devora Kaye said students will still receive the same amount of instructional time, and the time a teacher works remains the same.
"In order to reach all learners, teachers have to be highly trained in the craft of teaching," the statement said. "The professional development time we have agreed to here is essential for that."
