Stress increases, from students to adults; risk survey targets AHS impact
UPDATED, Oct. 5: Student stress. Further tests. Building updates that include an unknown about completion of the Thompson addition.
These are among the issues that the School Committee heard on Thursday, Sept. 28, subjects that add tension to a community.
One relates to the incomplete Thompson addition. Superintendent Kathleen Bodie said she still did not know when the Thompson addition would be done, as the administration faces a challenging task of moving classrooms in the middle of the school year.
The uncertainty about a project that was to have been completed Aug. 18 led those at the Oct. 3 Permanent Town Building Committee meeting to hold up payment to the contractor. Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine told YourArlington that members want to push the contractor of the six-classroom addition, GTC, to finish the job.
Advised to reject paying $129,590
He said that both PMA Consultants, the owner’s project manager, and architect HMFH reject the latest payment requisition from the contractor based on several contractual provisions not being met. The amount of the requisition is $129,590. The amount left on the contract in total is $368,387. Chapdelaine clarified Oct. 5 that he provided the approximate figure earlier, he was thinking of the total balance remaining on the contract.
He wrote that most of the next steps will be performed administratively and not subject to the open meeting law, but the results will certainly be reported and discussed at the next Permanent Town Building Committee meeting, set for Oct. 17.
The manager and Town Counsel Doug Heim plan to contact the companies managing the performance and payment bonds to encourage GTC to finish.
Survey found AHS students’ emotional state ‘very concerning’
Arlington High Students continue to score high on stress and depression as measured by the 2017 Middlesex League Youth Risk Behavior Survey. This online survey of 130 questions completed by 906 AHS students covered many health topics of current interest.
Cindy Bouvier and Ivy LaPlant, the Arlington presenters of the survey results, reported that they found these and several other findings “very concerning.”
Read the 2017 report here >>
The 2017 survey found that of AHS students filling out the survey, 48 percent of them reported too much stress “most of the time or always.” That number is rising: In 2016, 41 percent reported the same; in 2013, 36 percent did.
Moreover, in 2017, 25 percent of high school students reported “feeling sad or hopeless almost every day for two or more weeks in a row.” In contrast, only 10 percent of the students in the 2016 survey reported “feeling hopeless or discouraged about the future ‘most of the time or always’.”
Read the full 2016 report here >>
In terms of seeking solutions for these feelings, Bouvier reported that 68.6 percent said they had “a teacher or other adult they could turn to.” However, among the juniors, comparatively few had a person in school they could confide in.
Questions about substance abuse revealed more than 96.6 percent of the students did not use tobacco on a regular basis, though the use of e-cigarettes has increased slightly.
Questions about alcohol use showed a slight decrease in 2017. Among the 2017 student respondents, 72 percent reported not using alcohol in the last 30 days while 64 percent of the 2016 respondents reported not having used alcohol in the last 30 days. Marijuana use proved to be stable: 68 percent (2017), 68 percent (2016) and 71 percent (2013). Misuse of prescription drugs was negligible for all three years.
Committee members expressed their worry about the high percentage of AHS students who experienced stress, hopelessness and depression. Committee member Paul Schlichtman asked the presenter how these emotional problems can be addressed. Bouvier replied that many reported homework and schoolwork as the cause. Consequently, she and others are holding advisory classes, wellness days and mindfulness instruction.
In addition to these events, committee member Bill Hayner reminded the committee that they had created a position, director of social and emotional learning, which he hoped would coordinate efforts and cause these percentages to drop. This director, he continued, could also work in collaboration with parents.
Member Jenifer Susse reminded the committee that concerted efforts addressing substance abuse have allowed the percentages to drop in some cases and stay steady in others. She suggested that renewed efforts to address these social and emotional issues could also have a good result. She added that “it was a complicated problem,” involving not only the school but also the family and society.
Member Kristi Allison-Ampe contributed another perspective. She pointed out that 75 percent of the respondents reported receiving less than eight hours of sleep a night. Some of the stress, she suggested, might come from chronic lack of sleep, as “being tired all the time is stressful.”
Allison-Ampe also wanted to know when students were in engaging in these substance-abuse behaviors. Ivy LaPlant of the Arlington Youth Health & Safety Coalition, responded that students participate in these behaviors primarily at night: either at underparented supervised basement parties (which she definitively said were not safe) and/or in open spaces around town, such as parks.
She stressed how important it was for parents to 1.) teach their children that these substances are harmful to their developing brains and 2.) and that there are consequences for engaging in illegal activities.
Arlington High outscores local, schools
Arlington High School Principal Michael Janger and English teacher Paul McKnight reported on the results of the PISA test administered by the Organization of Economic Co-operationadministered by the Organization of Economic Co-operation. PISA stands for the Programme for International Student Assessment, a triennial international survey that aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students.
The test was administered last March to 70 randomly selected 15-year-olds at Arlington High School. The test would allow international comparison among different countries, including the U.S., U.K. and Singapore. In addition, it asks questions about elements of classroom culture.
See the full slideshow here >>
The results as referenced to both local schools and global schools showed the students at Arlington High School scoring “exceptionally well in all three areas — reading, math and science.” Moreover, Janger reported what was most impressive was the number of students performing at the highest level. At the same time, 65 percent of AHS students reported that they were “restricted readers.” This meant that they read a limited number of books but read deeply.
Another important finding was that AHS students in the lower socioeconomic grouping outperformed both local and international students in the same grouping, a result that came to the attention of Massachusetts school officials. Still, as Allison-Ampe pointed out, the AHS students in this grouping were found to take longer to get to work and to quiet down. Janger responded that he was working on ways to increase classroom management and engagement.
Concerns, equipment tracking
In other business, the School Committee heard:
— Two parents from the Peirce School expressed concerns about the lack of full-day teaching assistants in large kindergarten classes; and
— Ruthy Bennett, director of facilities, present a new computerized tracking system for repairs and replacement of equipment.
The committee reviewed the procedures for the superintendent’s evaluation and voted:
— Dondria Maxwell to represent the School Committee on the Human Rights Committee; and
— Paul Schlichtman as its delegate to the MASC annual business meeting.
Aug. 16, 2017: Thompson addition unfinished at deadline; town employees to work on current classrooms
This news summary by YourArlington freelancer Jo Anne Preston was published Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017, and updated Oct. 5, to clarify the amount unpaid. Bob Sprague contributed to this report.
