School Schedules

Presentation Available here.

On Tuesday, December 10, the Board of Education held a special meeting to allow for public presentation by our transportation consultant: Mr. Jerry Ford. The purpose of the presentation was to identify the options available to the Board that allow for a later start time for high school and middle school students and the potential cost impact of each.

To do this, the consultant outlined different categories for the Board and the cost structures connected with each. The times used are not his recommendation, they are used simply to provide models so we may understand options and costs. Any of the models may be further manipulated or changed, but they provide a way for us to remove certain options and focus on others.

The presentation is available here.  It provides five basic models:

1. Option 1 - Shifting our our current time tiers to allow for a later start time for high school and middle school.
2. Options 2 and 3 - Pairing secondary and elementary schools to allow for later start times while sharing busses between tiers.
3. Option 4 - Eliminating tiering and using individual busses for each route, allowing for the most flexibility in scheduling.
4. Option 5 - Shifting our elementary start times earlier.

Again, these are simply models to allow for discussion.  Board members are reviewing each and will continue conversation at our next meeting on December 17.

•  
• American Academy of Pediatrics (Article, 2014)
• American Psychological Association (Article, 2018)
• Center for Disease Control (Article, 2015)
• NEA (Article, 2019)
• NEA (Article, 2017)
• NPR (Article, 2018)
• Sleep Cycle (Article, 2019)
• Start School Later (Fast Fact Sheet, 2016)
• University of Washington (Article, 2018)
•  

• Wendy Troxel, Sleep Specialist (TED Talk, 2017)

• Center for Disease Control
• National Organization: Start School Later
• School Start Time
• Westonka Public Schools

For the full video of the event, please click here.
Highlights of the evening:

• 0:00 - Welcome
• 6:38  - Presentation of the Data – Dr. Bert Mandelbaum
  • 10:13 – Background
  • 22:30 – Issues Limiting Sleep in Adolescents
  • 23:00 – Understanding Adolescent Physiology
  • 28:10 – What should a student’s morning routine look like?
  • 29:05 – Policy Statements
  • 29:54 -  Evidence that Delaying School Start Times Works
  • 32:00 – Conclusion
• 34:10 – Introduction of Candidates
• 38:00  - Current State of Health and Wellness
• 40:30 – Individual Statements
• 54:50 – Frequently Asked Questions
  • 1:10:20  - What impact could this have on staff? How should we hear their voices?
  • 1:23:08 – What are the reasons not to address this issue?
  • 1:31:27 – How do you compare the investments needed to change SSTs with the investments being made to increase school safety?
• 1:37:00 – Questions from the Audience
  • 1:37:10 – How do you shift the mindset?
  • 1:41:38 – How can we improve things, not with start times, but within the schedule of the day?
  • 1:45:10 – Did the shifts in Princeton High School’s schedule and start times lead to any negative effects?
  • 1:48:45 – What are we seeing in society that exacerbate the issues connected to lack of sleep?
  • 1:55:30 – Is there any reason to believe that BRRSD is different than the districts from which all of this research is coming?
  • 2:00:15 – Summary of BRRSD-specific questions
  • 2:03:00 – The reality of the data
  • 2:03:45 – What are the barriers in Somerset County?
  • 2:06:30 – Given all the research, what is the obligation of any school district to address this?
• 2:11:25 – Concluding Remarks

Presentation Document here.

In Spring of 2019, the district issued surveys to students, staff, and family members.

The results can be found here.

At the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, January 21, 2020, the superintendent presented an update on School Start Times to the public.  

You may view the presentation here.