Willard Elementary School Will Still Start At 8 a.m.

After hearing from a sample of Willard parents, Berlin Superintendent of Schools David B. Erwin told Berlin Patch Tuesday that Willard Elementary School's start time will remain at 8 a.m. 

The original plan by school officials was to have all three elementary schools start at 8:40 am. The plan was put in place to get all of the elementary schools on the same schedule which would allow all teachers to participate in professional development. It also made sense since the school district will have full-day kindergarten beginning this fall. 

After the change was announced, a group of parents voiced displeasure with the decision and started an online petition. Their major complaints were that it would cause a financial hardship since many parents would have to change their work schedules. The parents who spoke out also said it was not enough time to arrange day care before school. 

"We're going to hold off on implementing the 8:40 a.m. start time until the 2014-2015 school year," Erwin said. "We listened to the concerns of the parents. They said three months was not long enough for them to make plans. I think that is debatable but we want to sensitive to the parents' concerns."

Erwin said the petition had nothing to do with the decision.

"We don't rule or govern by a petition," he said. "To be honest, I didn't even look at the petition."

There will be an adjustment for the Willard students and parents, however. On professional development days, there are 15 of them during the year, the school will start at 8:40 a.m.