LIVERMORE FALLS — Parents asked school officials Thursday to find more useful activities for their children to do at the middle school instead of sitting in study halls.

School leaders said they are addressing parents’ concerns and implementing changes.

Parent Sarah Delaney of Livermore suggested those activities could include community service, writing short stories, a reader’s theater with short scripts, composing music on laptops, and a food club to learn where food comes from.

All could be done at no or little cost, she said.

Parents said is they want their children’s time pu to better use.

“Study halls have been implemented into the curriculum this year because of a lack of subjects to fill the day, which was a direct result of the loss of three teachers due to budget cuts,” Delaney said.

She read off her daughter’s schedule on an L day: band for 60 minutes; study hall for 75 minutes; science for 75 minutes; adviser group for 75 minutes, split by lunch and English; and language arts for 75 minutes.

Times are similar on the F days, art or physical education, social studies, algebra, adviser group and English language arts.

Students not in band have a study hall during that period, she said, while one student called it an enrichment period of reading.

“Study halls are organized such that students read for the first 20 minutes and do homework for the last 55 minutes,” Delaney said. “These study halls are the main reason why we are here as a group tonight. We feel it is a poor use of our children’s time, and an underusage of intelligent teachers and a bad lesson in time management skills for the students.”

Delaney said parents are concerned that math is every other day and not every day, which would be better for retention purposes.

When she finished, school board members and audience members applauded.

Parents had previously approached new Principal Robert Kahler and new Superintendent Sue Pratt about their concerns.

Kahler said some changes have been implemented and more are in the works.

Each study hall will start with a math focus, he said.

Teachers will also hold learning labs for students that are not making grade level progress, he said.

There will also be integrated learning with a focus on health, he said. For the sixth grade it will be first aid, seventh grade, nutrition, and eighth grade, interpersonal relationships.

One of the positions eliminated in June was the health teacher.

There will also be student showcases beginning early in 2011 so parents and others can see what students are learning.

They also plan to pilot digital citizenship curriculum for the state.

It is recognition that the “world our kids are growing up in is really different than the one we did,” Kahler said.

Among the skills that will be taught is basic safety and critical thinking. The website to be used is commonsense.org, Technology Director Craig Suttie said.

Teachers are coming up with more educational activities for students, Kahler said, and students will be asked to give their own ideas.

School board Chairman Ashley O’Brien requested that the board be updated with the progress.

Delaney asked that parents be updated once a month so that they know what is going on in school.

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