Start Time Panel’s Survey Mirrors Trends In Sleep Research

By Larissa Lytwyn

With a roughly 30 percent return rate from most Newtown public schools, a recent survey conducted by the School Start Time Committee found that opinions are mixed on the district’s current start time schedule.

The survey’s creators, committee members Deb Zukowski, Wendy Leon-Gambetta, and Deborah Pollock-Wollman, presented their research to fellow members during the committee’s last meeting on May 11.

The survey asked three questions: whether the parent believed their child’s current school schedule was more or less beneficial; on average, what time their child fell asleep and woke up during the school week; and on average, the number of afternoon hours after school that their child may be home without an adult.

Out of Head O’ Meadow and Middle Gate elementary schools, each with approximately 450 students, 266 and 219 parents, respectively, responded. Of Sandy Hook Elementary School’s approximately 650 students, 379 parents responded.

Last spring, the school board approved the district’s transportation committee’s cost-saving busing shift from four to three tiers.

Third, or last tier schools Head O’ Meadow, Sandy Hook, and Middle Gate shifted from an 8 or 8:30 am start time to 9:12 am; dismissal times stretched from 2:12 and 2:42 pm to 3:34 pm.

First tier Newtown Middle School shifted from a 9:14 am start time to match Newtown High School’s 7:30 to 1:52 pm schedule.

Last fall, many parents from Head O’ Meadow, Sandy Hook, and Middle Gate expressed concern over the later schedule, describing their children as fatigued and stressed.

The survey indicated that these concerns have subsisted.

Sixty-two percent of Head O’ Meadow, 55 percent of Sandy Hook, and 52 percent of Middle Gate parents found the current start-times less beneficial than the four-tier schedule.

Thirty-one percent of Newtown Middle School students and parents responded to the survey; 44 percent described the third-tier schedule as less beneficial while 42 percent dubbed it more beneficial.

Fewer than 100 of Newtown High School’s approximately 1,550 students responded to the survey. Of those that did, 39 percent found the early-start times less beneficial while 42 percent described it as more beneficial.

On the second question, the higher the grade, the less sleep the child received.

Elementary school students averaged 10.3 hours of sleep, high school students about 7.5. Sleep research estimates that teens need between 8.25 and 9.5 hours of sleep a night.

Despite the low response rate, noted Ms Zukowski, the parallels between the research and high school student sleep patterns was “impressive.”

On the third questions, about 15 percent of Newtown Middle School respondents admitted that their child spent ten or more hours a week home without adult supervision.

Research suggests that criminal activity among juveniles’ peaks between 2 and 6 pm.

Committee member Barbara Bloom and Ms Leon-Gambetta shared comments that parents had made on the benefits and disadvantages of the start time from the prospective of both elementary and middle and high school-aged students.

Many elementary school parents complained about their children’s long bus rides (the longest lasting about 42 minutes), fatigue, hunger, crankiness, and general increase of stress levels.

While Newtown Middle School respondents responded positively over increased time for homework, others remarked on the increase in unstructured time.

The School Start Time Committee will hold a public participation forum at the Newtown High School lecture hall at 7:30 pm on Thursday, May 27. For more information, contact the Board of Education office at 426-7121.