Shifting School Schedules Spark Parental Concerns

By Larissa Lytwyn

This fall, when high school students begin the school day 12 minutes later at 7:42 am, middle school students will join them — an hour and a half earlier than their usual 9:14 am start. Reed Intermediate School students will also be starting their day earlier at 8:33 am. 

In contrast, Middle Gate, Sandy Hook and Head O’ Meadow elementary schools will begin class significantly later at 9:22 am.

The changes are the result of a decision by the Board of Education June 17 to adopt a three-tier bus system, transporting middle school students on sparsely populated high school buses to save the town $141,000 originally budgeted to add two buses to the system. The board sought a compromise solution with parents concerned about their high school student’s sleep deprivation by delaying by approximately 20 minutes appointed bus arrivals. The 20 minutes trickled through the rest of the schools, resulting in the even later start time for some elementary students.

Assistant Superintendent of Schools Alice Jackson, who largely handles school curriculum, said the tight budget approved by voters made it nearly impossible to provide the amount of deliberation needed to make more dramatic shifts. “We would need a lot of discussion to make the radical change to the high school schedule,” she said, “which of course, would effect [all the schools].”

“The three-tier system can be more cost-effective because it saves $18,000 in fuel,” explained Director of Transportation Mary Kelly. The way this happens, she continued, is to organize the buses according to schools’ geographic proximity to one another. Each driver will be assigned to one of the town’s four districts, reducing fuel expenditure. The second tier, consisting of Reed Intermediate, Middle Gate, Head O’ Meadow and Sandy Hook schools, as well as private institutions, covers a greater number of miles that logically require more time for drivers to cover. Therefore the school starting times are later.

The 20-minute shift delays the schedule even further. Less affected are Hawley and Saint Rose schools, which are close to the center of town and each other.

“We wanted to have a plan that was effectively cost-efficient,” said Ms Kelly, “and made the number of students on each tier more equitable.”

Although the three-tier proposal has been publicized for more than a year, some elementary school parents have expressed concern over what they say was a lack of communication about what a three-tier system would entail. Many said they learned about the shift for the first time after the final decision was made June 17; with the 20-minute delay, the change precipitated an even more striking difference in school start times.

According to a June 3 memo circulated among some faculty members, if the three-tier system was adopted, high school and middle school days would begin at 7:30 am, Reed Intermediate and Hawley School at 8:24 am, and Middle Gate, Sandy Hook and Head O’ Meadow at 9:08 am.

Lillian Bittman, mother of a third grader and seventh grader, said she was particularly concerned with young students ending their days shortly before dark in the winter. “This time delay is stealing our children’s childhood,” she said.

Sandy Hook School Assistant Principal Cathy Mazzariello, however, said that the later elementary start times were addressed when the three-tier proposal was first discussed more than a year ago.

In an effort to determine the cost-effectiveness of certain programs and protocols, the transportation committee, made up of faculty, administrators, bus drivers. and parents, surveyed families in November 2001 to determine the impact of later start times, among other issues, on students.

Out of the nearly 600 respondents, a slim majority supported a cost-effective, three-tier bus system.

Throughout the following year and a half, Ms Mazzariello said, warnings were given to parents about the consequences of a possible shift from a four to three-tier bus system. “Each week we sent home our Connection newsletter,” she said. “We always included the latest information about the [bus system] issue in it.” The June 12, 2003 newsletter, for example, noted, “…any changes to the starting and ending of our school day will be shared with you as soon as possible.” The following week’s newsletter included the new schedule.

Ms Mazzariello believes that no matter what time the school day begins, there will be controversy. “In the past, parents have expressed concern over kindergarten students standing in the dark early in the morning,” she said. “The biggest concern we’ve heard now is that many parents work full-time and may have difficulty getting their children to the bus safely.”

Middle School Concerns

Saying that they have been ill informed about the administrative rationale behind the schedule changes, many parents are concerned about the earlier start for middle school students. Research suggests that adolescents are neurologically inclined to go to sleep later at night and wake later in the morning. According to these studies, interference with this process can potentially lower academic stamina.

“I just think this was very poorly handled,” said Wendy Leon-Gambetta, a mother of four, including a high school student, seventh grader, and fourth grader. Ms Gambetta has been studying the issue of sleep deprivation on adolescents for more than a year, incorporating scientific research and related insights from neurologists and sleep clinicians in her research.

“If it were inconvenient to the parents, but educators indicated that it was in our children’s best interest, then I think the parents would be more likely to accept [time changes],” she said. “What’s maddening is that this is actually detrimental to our children’s learning.”