A proposal to move school start times back for older students in Fairfax County Public Schools has the high school swim and dive community up in arms. Several associated with the sport worry that later start times for high school students could eliminate the school system’s highly competitive swim and dive programs.
Some high school teams currently practice in the early afternoon, on a schedule that they could not meet if they started and got out of school later. If the school bell schedule changed, many in the swim and dive community worry that the county pools in which high school athletes practice would not be able to handle the scheduling change.
And, as rumors continue to circulate about the proposed bell schedule changes, some have speculated that Fairfax County wouldn’t continue to support a swim and dive program if the Fairfax County Park Authority didn’t adjust its schedule to reflect those later start times.
“With school ending later and practice starting at 4 or 4:15 p.m., that makes people very nervous that swim and dive will get eliminated,” said Robinson parent Geoff Bobsin Sr., whose son, Geoff Bobsin Jr., recently earned a swimming scholarship to Division I East Carolina University.
“The idea that Fairfax County would eliminate swimming is shocking,” Bobsin added. “I’m absolutely stunned that it’s even being considered.”
<b>BUT COUNTY</b> officials said the swim and dive community may be unnecessarily concerned about the impact that later start times for older students would have on its programs. The Fairfax County School Board has not made a decision to change the bell schedule and will not vote on the proposal until March.
Several School Board members said they hoped Fairfax County would be able to adjust the pool schedules to accommodate the swim and dive programs if the bell schedule changes.
“The concern, while legitimate, is at a level that is not in proportion to what is going on, said School Board member Brad Center (Lee). “I don’t have to make a decision between flipping the bell schedule and swim teams right now. And I may never have to make that decision.”
The Park Authority released a statement saying they would try to work with the school system should the bell schedule change.
“The Park Authority will work with the School Board to achieve the best possible outcomes for students and the community,” read the statement.
“The Park Authority was pretty clear that they want us to accommodate the teams,” added Judy Peterson, public information officer for the Park Authority. “We will do our best to accommodate whatever situation arises.”
<b>THE FAIRFAX BOARD</b> of Supervisors has also directed county staff to examine how a new bell schedule — with high school students attending school later — would affect all county facilities and programs. Where conflicts arise, Supervisor Penny Gross (D-Mason) expects the county to try and come up with a resolution.
“I want to be open minded and look at whatever is possible,” said Gross, who expects staff to report back on the impact of a bell schedule change at the Board of Supervisors’ Feb. 9 meeting.
School Board member Stu Gibson (Hunter Mill), who has frequently stated his concerns about the negative impacts of a new bell schedule, said the swim and dive program is just the tip of a much larger iceberg. According to Gibson, teachers, bus drivers, day care providers, parents and employers could all see significant changes in their lives if the School Board adopts later times for high school students.
“People in the community who are impacted are now beginning to realize that this a serious discussion,” Gibson said. “There are all sorts of impacts on people other than high school students. I would like to know the quantity and quality of those impacts and whether they are something people can live with.”
<b>BUT ADVOCATES</b> for later high school start times said there are not many reasons the county would not be able to accommodate a program like swimming if the bell schedule switched.
“There is no reason to believe later start times and swim can’t go hand in hand. My daughter is on the swim team,” said Sandy Evans, who is founder of SLEEP, an organization that has pushed for later high school start times over several years.
“It is not necessarily simple but none of the school board members or supervisors are talking about eliminating a sport,” Evans said. “We don’t see this as a downside for sports.”
She added that other school systems which have adopted later high school start times such as Arlington County have had either the same or higher participation in sports after their bell schedules were adjusted.
Parent-led support groups in support of swimming have also been formed. The primary group, Save our Sport (SOS), was started by Lisa Leake — a Centreville swim parent and a teacher in the Fairfax County Public Schools system, who does not want to see swim and dive eliminated because of the SLEEP program.
Leake argues that a set-in-stone guarantee has not yet been issued, and her fears will not be put at ease until that happens.
“Our sole mission is to save the swim and dive programs at all of Fairfax County’s public high schools,” Leake said. “If somehow the SLEEP proposal can have a guarantee in the passage of this initiative that no after-school activities will be lost because of it, then we have no issue. We’re just looking for a guarantee.”
Miriam Lynch, the swim and dive coach at Lake Braddock, supports the later bell schedule. Just not at the expense of those on her team.
“I have sixth and seventh graders who are looking forward to high school swimming,” Lynch said, “and it would be such a heartbreaker to afford them one luxury but then take away another one.”