BURLINGTON – School officials recently announced they have created an online landing spot for parents who want to provide feedback and look at research data pertaining to the continued conversations of pushing back start times in the district.
The website where all the information can be found is bpsschoolstarttimes.wordpress.com/ The site is not completely finished yet, but when it is, the end-product will entail a platform for feedback, survey questions, comments, and research data derived from various medical organizations.
“This will give people a chance to digest [later school start times] and I am sure there will be a lot of feedback, which is what we need to make a decision,” Assistant School Supt. Patrick Larkin declared to the School Committee at a recent meeting.
School Supt. Dr. Eric Conti and his administrative team began exploring the possibility of pushing back start times at the Burlington High School earlier this year.
Based on research that supports a later start time for students, the Middlesex League Superintendents have proposed a change that would move high school start times from the existing 7:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. All the communities in the Middlesex League start school at or around the same time, which is why this is a joint initiative among the superintendents. The Middlesex League consists of Arlington, Belmont, Burlington, Lexington, Melrose, Reading, Stoneham, Wakefield, Watertown, Wilmington, Winchester and Woburn.
The statement, drafted by Dr. Conti, cited studies which argued that later start times better enabled the social and emotional needs of students. Burlington is spearheading this initiative.
As a result of this league-wide initiative, the superintendents in the Middlesex League signed a joint statement that agrees with the following goals:
- Each district would have its high school day begin between 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. by the start of the 2018-2019 school year.
- Each district would schedule sports so students do not routinely miss academic time.
Dr. Conti stressed to the committee the creation of the website will help continue the conversation on later start times at the high school. If the district decides to move forward with the initiative, the plan is to start the later start times at the high school first, before implementing it at the middle school and elementary schools.
“We are trying to go about this in a way that makes and allows communities to have the conversation,” he avowed, stressing parents will be heavily involved in this dialogue. “We know the research and understand it. If people want [the later start times], they will get it; if not, then things won’t change in terms of the current start times.”
Dr. Conti continued on about student wellness being a top priority in these conversations.
“I hope this is a conversation about student wellness. I just want to acknowledge we are having the conversations and the research is out there and it does not make sense for us to not have these constructive conversations,” he suggested.
The joint statement, which has already been signed by Dr. Conti and the other Middlesex League superintendents, sets a 2-year timeframe concluding in fall 2018, where it is hoped the debut of the new start times will come to fruition. Within that timeframe, many facets of this initiative will be tackled through thorough conversation, including maybe the most important aspect of all – logistics (especially bus schedules and after-school activities).
By signing the joint statement in no way commits Burlington to changing its start times, as the objective now to is to start the conversation to see if each district wants it.
“The whole point of putting a 2-year window on this is it is going to take some time,” stated Dr. Conti. “Many changes may result if it moves forward and a lot of people would be impacted, such as parents and teachers. For now, let’s start to get serious, identify the obstacles, and identify the solutions to those obstacles.”
As for some of the obstacles, it is expected that after-school activities and sports would be scheduled to ensure that students did not miss academic time. Aligning bus schedules for pick-up and drop-off would be as important a logistic as any.
The committee was informed that the Melrose High School has already changed its start time to 8:15 a.m. which falls in line with the desired 8 to 8:30 a.m. timeframe set by the Middlesex League Superintendents. Although the later start times affect the timing of after-school activities throughout the Middlesex League, all the programs and sports schedules in the districts of the Middlesex League will be coordinated and scheduled to be in line with each other. No after-school scheduling conflicts should be expected as a result of any later start times being implemented.
Can’t please everybody
Dr. Conti spoke about not being able to please everybody, hinting people will either like or dislike the later start time initiative. Barbara L’Heureux, a parent of a junior at Burlington High School, reminded school officials that what matters most is what’s best for the kids, stressing the decision to move forward with later start times should not come down to answers to survey questions.
“We are not looking for the most popular solution; we are looking for the solution that is best for our children,” she remarked, noting the research she has read details the benefits of starting school later. “I know, somehow, you will be able to figure out the logistics if you put [the students] first.”
Dr. Conti echoed L’Heureux’s sentiments, restating “it’s all about what is best for the kids” but he did address the survey structure and its purpose.
“We just want to make sure we are asking the right questions,” Dr. Conti said of the survey questions which will be available online at bpsschoolstarttimes.wordpress.com/
He added, “ We want to cover all the bases from the point of view of a parent.” These bases consist of topics like transportation and daycare details, among others.
Dr. Conti restated he is working towards creating a detailed later school start time proposal for the School Committee.
“I will certainly be putting together a more detailed proposal moving forward. I think this is almost going to be a school-by-school conversation and then we will get into some of the other things that need to be bargained, such as lengthening the elementary school day and getting everyone to a 6-hour and 30-minute school day,” stated Dr. Conti, noting these aspects require bargaining with teachers’ union and devising a plan for the bus company. “There is a lot too it.”
The later school start time proposal will be a recurring agenda item for the School Committee. Expect updates at the next meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 25.
