Don’t Change

The School Bus Schedule

To the Editor:

We commend the Board of Education for its dedication to our schools. These volunteers are faced with the unenviable task of making budget cuts. All the possible cuts are disheartening, but one in particular greatly concerns us. The board is considering sending Newtown’s seventh and eighth graders to school on the early bus route beginning next year. These are our concerns:

*Sleep-deprived children do not learn effectively and research demonstrates that even with sufficient sleep, adolescents do not learn well early in the early morning. It is counter to their biological clocks. Our ninth grader wakes daily at 5:30, leaving the house at 6:30 to catch the bus. We understand that the NHS schedule is not going to change. But why add two more years of potentially compromised learning to our children’s school experience?

*The high school bus arrives home at about 2:15 pm. If the middle school adopts this schedule, many 12–14-year-olds will be home alone for hours, every day in Newtown. For a child that age to be home alone occasionally, or to be home alone daily for short periods of time is one thing. It is quite another to be home alone every school day from 2:15 until parents return from work several hours later. Will daycare be offered? At what cost?

*Changing the middle school schedule will affect all of Newtown’s seventh and eighth graders. It is the board’s responsibility to make the cuts that directly affect the fewest number of children. We don’t want programs such as fourth grade orchestra, Discovery, drama, athletics, etc… to be cut. These programs are valuable to the children participating in them, including our own. However, the starting time for school affects every child, not an elite or chosen percentage. Cuts which affect any student are bad. Cuts which affect many students are worse. Newtown’s children could spend six of their 13 school years — nearly half! — going to school under conditions which many researchers believe are detrimental to learning.

*We recognize that it is logistically difficult to combine the middle school and Reed bus runs. The high school buses run almost empty (many students get rides so they can sleep later!) and it makes better financial and practical sense to combine the middle and high school runs. These are important considerations, but not as critical as our children’s education.

*Some parents complain that the middle school and Reed students arrive home too late in the afternoon. Our sixth grader walks in between 4:15 and 4:20. There is little time to get him to his extracurricular activities, return home, fix and eat dinner, do homework, etc... It is inconvenient. It is a hassle. However, it is not detrimental to his education.   

We implore the Board of Education to make the necessary budget cuts in areas that will not affect so many children in such a direct and negative manner. We must put academics first. It would be a disservice to our children to do otherwise. It is the board’s job as elected representatives to do what is in our children’s best interest. Parents, if this issue is of concern to you, please attend the next Board of Ed meeting on Tuesday, May 13. Starting school at an appropriate time of day is not an “extra,” it is not a luxury item — it is essential to effective learning.

Ernesto Leon-Gambetta

18 Sawmill Ridge Road, Newtown                                 May 7, 2003