The Board of Health, citing the current transitional environment, asked the School Committee this week to consider changing school start times, primarily to benefit the welfare of high school students.
Although the committee was receptive to the idea, nothing is going to be discussed before the fall.
“Changing start times is stressful, but the health benefits for teenagers outweigh any negative consequences,” said Board of Health Chair Anita Raj. The vice-chair, Susan Schwartz, added, “Given what everyone has been through, it might be time to adjust the schedule going forward.”
“It’s time to revisit the question,” acknowledged Dan Brosgol, the outgoing school board chair. “This committee should set forth a course next year. It’s a communal decision — parents, bus company, athletics, traffic. It should be done patiently, deliberately, in partnership with your counsel.” He encouraged Raj to reach out to the next committee chair in a few months.
Superintendent of Schools Philip Conrad acknowledged that “start time affects all students and all families, teachers, police. It is a logistics issue as well as a health issue.”
Current start time at Bedford High School is 7:45 a.m. The last major change was 10 years ago, Raj said, and “it seems like a good idea to address it again.” BHS now begins earlier than many area towns, she said. Indeed, start time at Newton’s two high school is 9 a.m.
Her board has been focusing on the issue since late last summer, she continued, reviewing evidence from sources like the American Medical Association, which recommends a later start time for high school classes.
“We need our teens to get enough sleep and the right kind of sleep,” she said, noting that the deepest “REM” sleep occurs close to awakening for the day. Additional spending for education is not relevant “if the information just bounces off their exhausted brains,” she said.
School Committee members pointed out that there are interlocking consequences to changing the start time for even one school.
“The challenge is the logistics – how to make it all work,” said Brad Morrison. “Our challenge tonight is to figure out how to keep the conversation going. I’m not sure how I would balance the priorities, but the science is pretty clear that there certainly is a group that would benefit from a later start time.”
JoAnn Santiago noted that “none of the research addressed the issue of child care. As a working parent, what is happening with my kids after school is a challenge. It impacts other parts of the town as well as schools.”
Ann Guay added that Andover recently changed its high-school start time and “the elementary parents are very upset about it. Working parents said this is impossible for us. This gets us to thinking about it going forward.”
She also noted Bedford’s reliance on coordinated school bus scheduling. Her colleague Sarah Scoville wondered whether a comparable district has schools with a grade configuration similar to Bedford’s.
Raj said the Board of Health has addressed many of these issues already.
Ryan Doucette, retiring student representative on the School Committee, added a wrinkle to the issue, asking: “Why are students staying up so late?” The committee should consider workload as part of the conversation, as well as support for struggling students, he said. “If I am in high school I would love to start the day later but how many hours exist in a day?”
Raj said the Board of Health is also prioritizing temperatures in school buildings during fall and spring. Conrad concurred that buildings will continue to get warmer. He applauded the efforts of Facilities Director Taissir Alani to procure equipment quickly when Lane School was overheating.
The Board of Health also requested a more collaborative relationship with the School Committee beyond staff coordination, perhaps even exchanging representatives at each other’s meetings periodically.
Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763
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I completely agree with Anita in regards to the later start times for teenagers. It is a known issue and has been for years that it has a negative impact on teenagers learning ability. It is sad that many parents and the town are willing to sacrifice the well being of their children for their own convenience. We should remember that although they are young adults they are not the parents and ultimately are not responsible for the care of younger siblings. In my opinion that argument should not be a part of the decision process.