Paly’s bell schedule for the 2008-2009 school year will be the same as this year’s second semester schedule, according to an email sent to Paly staff members this Monday. This change means the Paly administration chose to eliminate the late start of 8:45 a.m. on Thursdays during the first semester based off of the results of a survey taken by less than 2/3 of the administration on Friday, April 11.

We do not endorse Paly’s decision to implement the second semester year round. We believe the decision should be rethought and reexamined in order to take into account what students actually believe and desire.

Although 71 percent of staff members who voted said he or she would prefer a change in the bell schedule, only 62.5 percent of the staff members said they would like a later start to the school day (66 percent vote was required to change the bell schedule).

The Paly administration based their decision on the results of the staff survey.

The Paly student body has been anxiously awaiting a decision to be made about next year’s bell system, but many are troubled by the administration’s disappointing, including the staff of The Paly Voice.

We at The Paly Voice were under the impression that this new bell schedule was supposed to help relieve student stress, not to increase pressure for students. A later start to school would not only give students more time to work on homework late at night, but would improve the overall health of students by increasing the amount of sleep they could get.

However, The Paly Voice disagrees with the administration’s decision to ignore the results of the student survey, and base their decision on what the staff wants.

At Paly, students are faced with hours of homework each night on top of any extra-curricular activities they have. To take away an hour of sleep every Thursday for the first semester will put even more pressure on students to spend less time relaxing at night, and more time cramming to do homework in order to get a good night’s sleep.

It is the opinion of The Paly Voice that sleeping in later is more important than getting out of school earlier. Although it may be helpful to some athletes to have an early dismissal, we strongly disagree with the administration’s decision to take away the one day a week we can sleep in during the first semester.

Although athletics are important extracurricular activities, the administration cannot lose sight that academics are the main purpose of school, and in no way should be limited by extracurricular.

The Paly Voice does not think the decision should be determined by the opinion of the faculty. We believe the faculty should take into account the students’ opinions. Paly students face enormous stress and pressure, with special regards to juniors and seniors. To leave the decision up to the staff members undermines the so-called “concern” that Paly administration has with student stress.

According to the student survey, 81.3 percent of Paly students said that they would prefer if school started later. There is no reason for the administration to disregard the critical information they have received to help them assess the needs of the students.

The school should operate in the most beneficial way for the students. We find it unacceptable that the administration based their decision off of the teachers’ votes, disregarding the student’s concerns. In the future, having representatives from the student body at these meetings would help bring a balanced perspective towards future decisions.

We do not recognize this vote as fairly conducted. The administration did a poor job of accurately reporting the opinions of its staff members.

According to the staff email, only 64 percent of Paly teachers voted in the survey. That is not even two thirds of the Palo Alto High School staff. Many staff voices were left unheard, and it is impossible for the administration to call this vote fair when over one third of the staff is missing.

The Paly Voice believes if the administration goes through with this new bell schedule for next year, it will make a mockery of PAUSD’s opening sentence on its Web site saying that as a district “we are a student-oriented district where children come first and where students always remain at the heart of our commitment.”

It is our hope that the community will not allow the new administration at Paly to destroy what makes Paly unique and special: a special sense of understanding in the faculty, the ability to look back fondly at your high school years and the desire of students across the United States to move into our district to attend Paly.

The Paly Voice hopes that current students, alumni, faculty, residents and friends of Palo Alto Unified School District will not stand for the administration’s decision to change our bell schedule in a non-beneficial way for current students.

As the Voice of the student body at Paly, it is our responsibility to remind the administration that it is here for the students first and foremost.