BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS A DJUSTING S CHOOL S TART T IMES Boston School Committee November 15 th , 2017
BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Agenda Why Change Start and End Times? What We’ve Heard Tradeoffs & Priorities Proposed Policy Appendix 2
BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Why Change Start and End Times? We are changing bell times for five reasons 1 Sleep research has found that high school students benefit from a later school start time 2 The final rollout of Schedule A ELT has pushed back some school dismissal times to 4:10pm 3 Our bell time system today is inefficient, resulting in high costs 4 The complexity of our system has made us unable to comply with existing School Committee policy 5 Our transportation system is interconnected , making it difficult to make incremental changes without system-wide change 3
BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Why Change Start and End Times? As a selection of Boston Globe articles show, this is not a new problem “ No later start times are in the works for September, but English and Brighton high school officials are considering pilot programs that could stagger start times for some teens and have them make up the lost morning time elsewhere… Start times promise to be a prominent topic at staff and student meetings, officials say ” – September 27, 1998 “ Sleepy teens “ Let Boston high may need later “ Many of Boston’s schoolers start start time ” approximately three dozen high school later ” – January 5 th , schools have among the earliest – February 23, 2003 start times in the state ” 2017 – March 10 th , 2016 4 Source: Boston Globe historical archives
BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Why Change Start and End Times? Solving this problem has been the work of an internal taskforce over the last year “Boston school officials have decided against changing the start times… for next fall, saying they need more time to conduct an analysis and consult with the community ” – Boston Globe , December 2, 2016 Consult with the community Conduct an analysis Through our survey last spring we Through the Transportation Challenge we developed – for the heard from parents of ~7,500 first time – a tool that can students and ~2,100 school staff , and we heard from people in person demonstrate what start time at 17 stakeholder meetings combinations are possible A coherent, efficient, and pedagogically sound bell time policy 5
BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Agenda Why Change Start and End Times? What We’ve Heard Tradeoffs & Priorities Proposed Policy Appendix 6
BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS What We’ve Heard Over the fall, we’ve held a number of additional engagement activities Detailed Website and Robust Meeting Schedule Working Group Robocalls • Ammal Jama , Junior at Boston Latin School Event Date • Ashley Figueroa , Junior at Boston Latin Academy Sociedad Latina ( Mission Hill ) 10/17 • Avery Esdaile , Director of Athletics • Dena Guthrie, Parent and Library Principal Cabinet ( Citywide / Roxbury ) 10/23 Paraprofessional St. Stephens Parent Group ( Downtown ) 10/24 • Ed Lee , Operational Superintendent BCYF / Curtis Hall ( Jamaica Plain ) 10/26 • Freda Johnson, Headmaster at the English High School BPS Open House ( Citywide / Roxbury ) 10/28 • Gloria West, Grove Hall and BPS Parent BSAC ( Citywide / Roxbury ) 10/30 • Hammad Ahmed , Director of Operations at Neighborhood House Charter School BTU Membership Meeting (Citywide / 10/30 • Jessica Tang, President of the Boston Teachers Dorchester) Union St. Peter’s Teen Center ( Dorchester ) 11/1 • Jennie Chang , Junior at Bostin Latin Academy • John Hanlon, Chief of Operations Salesian Boys and Girls Club ( East 11/2 • Kim Crowley, Principal of the Lee School Boston ) • Mary Ann Crayton, Senior Director of Community BCYF / Mildred Ave ( Mattapan ) 11/2 Engagement • Michael Loconto, School Committee Hyde Park Community Center ( Hyde 11/2 • Mona Ford , Principal of the Winship School Park ) • Monica Roberts, Assistant Superintendent, Office DELAC Election ( Roxbury) 11/3 of Engagement Harvard-Kent ( Charlestown) 11/6 • Nnenna Ude , Chief Operating Officer, Match Charter School Citywide Conversation at Lilla 11/8 • Rahn Dorsey, Chief of Education Frederick (Dorchester) • Regina Robinson, School Committee Yawkey B&G Club ( Roxbury ) 11/9 Bostonpublicschools.org/ • Rob Consalvo, Chief of Staff • Steven Chen, Office of Equity SPED PAC ( Roxbury ) 11/13 starttimes • Traci Walker Griffith, Principal of Eliot K-8 School Committee ( Roxbury ) 11/15 7
BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS What We’ve Heard We have engaged ~20K parents, teachers, students and community members Who We Heard From and How Met with 100+ Heard from 6,365 Met with 300+ Students parents and 2,102 community members school staff on our at 17 events survey last fall Over 10K+ Heard from 1,660 community And many other website views members through our online groups… feedback form 8 Note: Engagement data as of 11/15/2017, subject to change. Parent survey represents responses for ~7,500 students
BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS What We’ve Heard In our community conversations, several themes emerged Post 4pm dismissals are a challenge for many elementary school families, students, and teachers • “A 9:30 start is very late given children's sleep cycles and inconvenient for working parents. Plus, with the late dismissal, she can’t participate in swimming lessons, playdates, etc. ” – Parent BPS should follow the abundance of research on the value of high school students starting later and push high school start times past 8am • “ All of the research says early start times are bad for learning and growing for high school students. We need start times that align with their developmental needs ” – Teacher There is a need for increased before- and/or after- school support at late and early start schools • “ I think every school should have surround care – the day needs to be extended for working parents and to give students more time to learn ” – Parent If changing times generates cost savings, then many wish to see those funds reinvested in schools • “Please stop spending on buses and reinvest the money into our classrooms” – Student We need a process that doesn’t advantage some schools over others • “Please don’t give preference to certain schools - that is unfair, not transparent, and too common” – Principal Where possible, we should prioritize students with specific needs • “Ensuring high needs students get home on time should be the first thing that you do” – Parent 9
BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS What We’ve Heard Our survey revealed that 8-8:30 was the most popular start time range, but there is no consensus… Family and School Staff Preferences 7 6 Parents of K-6 Students 5 Parents of 7-12 Students 4 Teachers 3 Other School Staff 2 1 7:00 AM 7:15 AM 7:30 AM 7:45 AM 8:00 AM 8:15 AM 8:30 AM 8:45 AM 9:00 AM 9:15 AM 9:30 AM Note: Question read “How do you feel about the following start times {for you or your student}? 1 is “strongly dislike” and 7 is “strongly like” 10 Source: 2017 BPS Transportation Survey
BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS What We’ve Heard … and variation within schools shows that it is impossible to make everyone happy Parent Preference Data at a Large Elementary School , (n=76 at this Particular School) At least 100% Less Popular More Popular one parent likes every 80% bell time… 60% 40% … and at least one 20% parent 0% dislikes 7:00 AM 7:15 AM 7:30 AM 7:45 AM 8:00 AM 8:15 AM 8:30 AM 8:45 AM 9:00 AM 9:15 AM 9:30 AM every bell time “What that data tells me here is that there is no consensus even within schools – so no matter what bell time we pick, we’re going to be an equal opportunity offender. So let’s take the parental preference piece largely off the table and just try to make the system account for the biological needs of students and more efficient” – Parent 11 Source: 2017 BPS Transportation Survey
BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS What We’ve Heard While many individuals dislike a late start and end, a considerable minority prefer these times Voices For Post-9am Starts % of Parents and Teachers Listing 9:30 as Their Favorite Time • “ The after school options at my school are not 30% good. I would prefer that the day end late so I can work until 5 ” – Parent 25% • “I do not like the idea of forcing my son to wake very early in the morning . I think 9am is an appropriate start time for all schools” 20% – Parent All Respondents • “We are a late school and it helps me greatly 15% starting later than my own children – Currently at please don’t change us!” – Teacher 9:30am School • “I like the 9:30am start time, the kids don't 10% have to wake up super early (they are not morning kids) giving them time to eat 5% breakfast, wake up, and prepare for a full day . The late dismissal time works well for when most people I feel get out of work ” 0% – Parent Parents Teachers 12 Source: 2017 BPS Transportation Survey
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