LETTER: Changing School Start Times Is The Wrong Answer

WAYLAND, MA—The following was submitted by Wayland parent Christopher Desmond. Want to get in on the conversation? Email charlene.arsenault@patch.com

Dear Wayland School Committee Members and Superintendent Unobskey,

I write to you to state my strong opposition to changing the elementary school start times in the Wayland Public Schools. While I understand the importance of adequate sleep in adolescents, reversing the start times of the elementary and middle/high schools and moving the elementary start time almost an hour earlier is the wrong answer. The current proposals attempt to solve one problem by creating another problem of equal or likely greater magnitude. Further, after attending the October 18th Public Forum on this matter, it became readily apparent that neither the Committee nor the Superintendent have worked through the implications of these proposals in sufficient detail to be able to make an informed decision at the scheduled November 19th vote. As such, I implore the Committee to postpone its vote and consider alternate options that do not disenfranchise a group of students for the benefit of another group.

For the following reasons, the proposed new elementary school start time will negatively impact our children:

• Length of Day: An earlier start time will put children in school and aftercare for longer hours. They will go to school almost an hour earlier, yet will still be picked up at the same time. For children with working parents, that will often mean a school and aftercare day that runs from 7:35 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (or later).

• Sleep: These proposals will result in our youngest children not receiving a sufficient amount of sleep. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that elementary school aged children receive 9 to 11 hours of sleep at night.[1] Further, the American Academy of Pediatrics has found that children who decreased their sleep by 54 minutes were associated with detectable deterioration in their ability to regulate their emotions, including their ability to limit restless-impulsive behavior in school.[2] In addition, a 2005 study out of Brown Medical School found significantly more academic problems in students aged 6 to 12 whose sleep was restricted.[3]

• Decreased Family Time: Hopefully, all of us can agree that family time with young children (including mealtime and playtime) are critical to the child’s mental and emotional well-being and their overall development. The proposed new start time will require many children to wake up before 6:00 a.m. To ensure enough sleep, they will need to go to bed very early, thus leaving parents with the unpalatable choice of either sacrificing family time or sacrificing our child’s needed sleep. That is not a choice parents should have to make.

• Diminished Academic Performance: While there is a plethora of studies on the impact of earlier start times on secondary level students, the Committee admits that there is much less data on the impact on elementary students. Instead, in making its determination that the earlier start time will not adversely affect elementary school students, the Committee appears to rely more on supposition and anecdotes. Despite the limited data regarding elementary students, the Committee appears to be discrediting or dismissing a peer-reviewed 2015 study that found a strong correlation between earlier school start times and poorer school performance.[4]

• After School Care and BASE: The proposed dismissal time of 2:20 p.m. (1:20 p.m. on Wednesdays) is far too early for working parents to be home in time for their elementary school children. This will necessitate an increase in after-school care needs and costs to Wayland families. Many families rely on older children to watch their younger elementary school siblings. With the elementary schools releasing almost an hour earlier than the middle and high schools, that source of child care will disappear. In addition, at a time when the BASE program is significantly understaffed, the proposed new schedule will further increase the staffing problem by preventing the numerous high school students who currently fill those roles from doing so in the future. Parents will be left without an adequate child care resource or be forced to choose more expensive alternatives.

In addition to the problems listed above, the Public Forum made clear that there are numerous important details that the Committee and the Superintendent have yet to work out (e.g., how to adequately staff BASE, bus routes, etc.). The Committee and the Superintendent have stated that they plan to work through these details after the Nov. 19 vote and in time for the 2019-2020 school year. But, you should not be voting on incomplete proposals. And, more importantly, you shouldn’t be voting on proposals that pit the interests of one student group against another. We are all parents and we are all members of the same community. We need to work together to find a solution that benefits all students. Ultimately, these proposals stem from a transportation/budgetary problem. We can solve that problem. I hereby ask the Committee to postpone its Nov. 19 vote until we can find a solution that works for all.

Also, please note that the substance of this letter is being circulated to other parents in an online petition located at: https://chn.ge/2OFt02q