To the Editor:

I have always been in favor of a school start time change for middle and high school students. However, I cannot support a change that benefits one group of students over another, which the recent school start time decision by the Newtown BOE does, at the expense of the K-6 students. My concerns led me to look further into this decision to find out how parents truly felt and to inform the public of the potential negative consequences of this decision.

I began my quest for information regarding the negative impact on the K-6 student population. I opened up an FOI request to receive copies of all e-mail correspondence to Dr Erardi and members of the Board of Education regarding school start time change, dating from April 1 through June 20. Of the e-mails given to me to date, overwhelmingly, 75 percent were from parents asking to vote against this decision or postpone until all of the issues surrounding the impact for the K-6 students were fully vetted. Also included were e-mails from educators of their concerns for the Reed students being on the bus for too long, amount of idle time, to concerns about the continuation of after school programs.

One of the most important issues for me is the impact on after school programs. I had been assured publicly and privately that there would be no change to after school programs. This has turned out not to be true, for example St Rose religious education. With the change in start times and long bus runs, this decision makes it impossible to get your child to CCD by 4:15. This scheduling conflict would have remained overlooked if not for phone calls and inquiries by me to change the CCD start time to 4:30. Another example of the consequences of this decision is the continuation of the Reed School ski club. Ski club is a favorite among students, giving them their first taste of independence. With the new dismissal time and drive time to Mount Southington, there is a possibility that this program will be eliminated. Despite these sentiments, various board members along with the superintendent continued to push to vote on the change.

The Board of Education is elected to represent all the people of Newtown. However, despite the overwhelming number of e-mails asking to "vote against" or "defer," the numerous objections raised at meetings and all of the unanswered questions, the board chose to ignore documented objections and vote in favor of the change. Only one board member took into consideration the concerns of parents, which was reflected in the final vote. Can we say this board operated in the best interest of all Newtown public school students?

With school right around the corner, we have been reminded repeatedly to exercise patience; I wish patience and thorough due diligence was exercised when this decision was being made - especially since the superintendent who asked parents to partner with him and support this cause is no longer here to see it through.

Lucia Kortze

7 Rooster Ridge, Newtown August 8, 2017