The Board of Education (BOE) conducted a public meeting on Tuesday, June 20, at 7:30 pm, at the Newtown Municipal Center, to discuss three possible school start time scenarios and to vote on a decision.

A large crowd gathered for the session, so much so that extra seats had to be brought in to accommodate everyone in attendance.

When the BOE reached the public participation portion of the agenda, many residents shared their opinions with hopes that their input would make an impact on the BOE's decision that night.

One of the first to speak to the BOE was Nancy White, who expressed she had "a lot of concerns" over the school start time proposals, including the issue that buses may cause.

In addition to being worried about students safety walking between the buses that take up more than one lane at Hawley Elementary School, she said the bus plan had the potential for creating a "gridlock" on Church Hill Road.

John Feder, father of twin children going into kindergarten, said his main concern with the school time changes was that kindergartners will be on the same bus as sixth graders.

With the age difference in mind, he said, "What are the little ones going to be exposed to?"

Mike White brought up the topic of child care, saying the time changes will result in parents having to try to scramble over the summer to get their child the resources to meet the new time needs.

"It's not fair to those parents," he said.

Mr White felt that not only would parents be impacted, but so would children. He cited that younger grades need early start times to help them learn and to have more opportunities for after school activities.

"We've been supporting the high school for numerous years, I feel at the expense of [kindergarten through sixth grade students]," Mr White said, and later added, "When considering the time change, I think we need to consider it as a K-12 issue, not a 9-12 issue."

Another concern brought up by multiple speakers was the plea for the members to not rush to implement a decision.

Kathryn Burke felt that three months was just not enough time to explore the topic and make a decision, saying, "It seems like the research that was done supported more of the middle school and high school students as opposed to the kindergarten through [sixth grade] students."

She added, "I am for the time [change], but I just think the current proposal needs a little bit more work, and I am afraid if we don't take the time to make it perfect now, we're not going to go back and change it to make it what the kids need from kindergarten all the way up to twelfth grade."

Other speakers were in favor for making the new school start time vote as soon as possible.

Newtown High School (NHS) graduated seniors Simran Chand, Class of 2017 valedictorian, and Dylan Lew spoke as members of the public. Both were also student representatives on the BOE.

Simran prefaced her thoughts by saying she understands that she and Dylan may have an "unpopular opinion," but that the topic "hits close to home."

She encouraged the BOE to approve the later school start time for NHS, saying it would positively affect student's REM cycle and that "every sleepless night takes a toll."

Simran requested that those in favor of the start time let it go into action and understand that it will evolve over time.

Dylan echoed her sentiment, adding that people should focus on the sheer number of high school and middle school students that will be helped by the change.

Superintendent Statements

Following the public's comments and concerns, School Superintendent Dr Joseph V. Erardi, Jr, said he is respectful and understands everyone's concerns about time and transportation, but ultimately he believes that "all of the information is present and available to the BOE to make a decision."

He then went through each of the three options that had been narrowed down from an earlier list.

The first option was Revised Option Five: Article A. It includes Reed Intermediate School's (RIS) bell times at 8:55 am and 3:27 pm and public elementary school bell times at 9:05 am and 3:37 pm.

In the morning, buses would drop off students at RIS first, then go to the designated public elementary school, with the same sequence in the afternoon for pickups.

"Revised Option 5 [Article A] includes the shuttle in which grade five and grade six students, most - not all - would get off their original bus from RIS to their bus that took them to school in the morning," he said.

Dr Erardi added that as a school leader and as a parent, if he had a kindergartner or a sixth grade student, he would feel comfortable having those ages on the same bus.

In Board Consideration: Article B, the option flips the RIS and elementary school start times and does not have a shuttle option.

The first morning drop-off would be at the elementary school then at RIS, and same sequence for in the afternoon.

The last option Dr Erardi discussed was called Board Consideration + Shuttle System: Article C.

He explained it is a combination of Articles A and B, with the shuttle system in the afternoon.

RIS and public elementary school bell times would both be at 9:05 am and 3:37 pm.

The first drop off in the morning would be at the elementary school, then RIS, and in the afternoon the first pick up would be at RIS, then at the elementary school.

"It is an option we believe as a committee has little to no additional ride time for elementary school students," Dr Erardi added.

All three options mentioned above would have alternative transportation available in the afternoon for RIS sixth grade students - which was the first grade class at Sandy Hook Elementary School on 12/14 - so as not to be brought back to that elementary school location.

Also consistent within all three proposed options are the bell times for the remaining Newtown schools: 8 am to 2:32 pm for NHS and Newtown Middle School; 7:50 am to 2:50 pm for St Rose School; and 8:15 am to 3 pm for Fraser Woods Montessori School and Housatonic Valley Waldorf School.

Dr Erardi also noted that they did a bus run simulation at Hawley School earlier in the day to test out the shuttle plan.

For a visual on how the buses would be stationed there, a handout was given to board members to see the planned diagram.

"I am pleased to share with you that the shuttle offers less of a traffic concern than the present practice that we have," Dr Erardi said.

He added that it is cost neutral and supports the research they have done. He also stressed that they will need to come to a decision to give All-Star Transportation sooner rather than later.

Dialogue Among The Board

In a nearly two-hour discussion, all the board members participated in bringing their questions, concerns, and positive feedback to the different plans presented.

Wanting to shine more light on the research group perspective during the conversation, Michelle Ku said, "We are in a district here that is investing in social/emotional learning, and we are very cognisant of that, mental health, and well-being."

She said she does not want people to lose sight of the fact that "sleep help is key" to eliminating mental health issues like depression and that this topic is overall a public health matter that fits with the district's goals.

Following that point, Rebekah Harriman-Stites voiced her concerns that she is still struggling to have confidence in any of the options presented.

She said she understands there are a "million reasons" why to do it and that she feels "the committee did an excellent job about if we are going to do it," but continued on to say that the "when" and "how" still needs to be decided.

"I'm not quite so sure we have enough information to make that decision for certain that it is not going to negatively impact other students," said Ms Harriman-Stites.

A Final Decision

At the end of the discussion, Ms Ku moved forward with making a motion stating the BOE is "directing the superintendent to work with the committee's transportation [Article A] to adjust the school start times for the 2017-18 school year."

Before coming to a vote, Ms Harriman-Stites told the BOE she would like to make an amendment to the motion that the implementing take place in the 2018-19 school year, instead of the upcoming school year.

She explained she has concerns that parents and teacher will not have the ability to adjust their schedules in the short amount of time proposed and that waiting would allow the BOE the opportunity to adjust its budget to find other options.

When it came to a vote on the amendment, Ms Harriman-Stites and Dan Cruson, Jr, were in favor, but the amendment failed due to other members not wanting to postpone the decision.

Some members expressed their concerns for Article A and how they saw Article C as beneficial.

Debbie Martha Leidlein asked to make a "friendly amendment" to change the motion from Article A to Article C.

In doing so, the motion for selecting Article C for the 2017-18 school year passed in a vote six to one, with a portion of the audience applauding the decision.

The Board of Education conducted a special meeting the following night, Wednesday, June 21, at the Newtown Municipal Center, to go over a variety of items on the agenda that could not be addressed at the regularly scheduled meeting. For more information on the June 21 meeting, see next week's June 30 print edition.