A plan originally pitched as a way to increase safety at Killeen Independent School District high schools will come with additional disciplinary measures and a window of time when students’ locations are largely unknown.
On June 14, the Killeen ISD board of trustees voted 4-2, with one board member absent, in favor of a closed lunch policy, with limited senior exceptions.
On Tuesday, board members reviewed the topic again.
The district is implementing a flexible “Power Hour” lunch schedule to provide students with in-school tutoring options, officials say, allowing students who fall behind a chance to catch up during the day.
Under this new plan, according to a draft Power Hour handbook, struggling students will face escalating disciplinary action if they do not attend mandatory tutoring sessions — potentially leading up to an alternative disciplinary school placement if students do not comply.
Chaparral High School Principal Gina Brown, who has prior experience implementing Power Hour at a high school campus in Pflugerville ISD, explained how Power Hour would hold students accountable.
“The good thing about Power Hour is that when you have a student who is not doing what they’re supposed to be doing, and you call a parent meeting, and you show them the opportunities that the student has to engage in tutoring during the day, the parents almost 99.9% of the time put that back on the student and say, ‘Well, that’s your responsibility to do that,’” she said.
During this one-hour block, about 9,500 high school students will have the ability to eat almost anywhere on their respective campuses.
In the event of an emergency situation during Power Hour, KISD administrators would to turn to club sign-in sheets, off-campus ID tags, and word of mouth to locate students.
“Students are creatures of habit,” Brown told the board Tuesday. “They will very quickly find the places in the building that they want to gather and with the people they want to gather. I was telling Ms. Harris, it’d take us no longer than 5 to 6 minutes to find a student, even if we didn’t have them signed in somewhere, because adults got to know where students lived during that time and students got to know where students lived at that time.”
Board member Oliver Mintz pressed the district to work out the “safety component” on the plan Tuesday.
“Absolutely do not forget the security component of this,” Mintz said. “We have people in different places, doing different things at different times, I would urge you to run some type of drill during Power Hour to make sure we have that locked down.”
(4) comments
Let's not forget the health code violations/issue here with having students eat their food all over the buildings. Diligence must be adhered to in disposing of all food waste daily or the buildings will become infested with vermin, if they haven't already. Based on last year's trial run of Power Hour and the KISD officer seen kicking a rat off the court during a Harker Heights girls basketball game, the schools may already be infested.
Did the people making this plan even ask kids the challenges of eating and tutoring? I know at Ellison it was a trendies issue so my son would eat out of the vending machine on tutoring days. When he attempted to bring lunch, another kiddo had a reaction to his food so he was suspended for having food in a non lunch time. One morning we tried grabbing whataburger and it was taken when he walked they the door and placed in the office then misplaced when he went to get it and ran out of time while they looked. Have you researched the psychological effects of eating at a spot you are working/tutoring at? Have you considered the emotional effects of not taking a break and refreshing?
Seems like a well thought out plan. The only tutoring I ever got was done after school hours or a paddling from Coach. Kept me on the straight and narrow. Maybe you could get some Food Trucks in the parking lot for a weekly treat. Thanks to the Administrators for working this contentious issue out.
@Creator, actually, it wasn't that well thought out. I went through the numbers, and food trucks are necessary for them to make their planned times through lunch lines. Plus, giving the students some choice is a good thing, too. BUT, my prediction is they won't do that, and the plan will fall on it's face without adjustment, and they will have to be dragged kicking and screaming to do the right thing. Just wait and see.
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