School Schedules - FAQs

WHEREAS, highly renowned health-related organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, Center for Disease Control, American Medical Association, and  American Psychological Association, deem that insufficient sleep for adolescents is a major health concern; and

WHEREAS, according to the research used by the above-referenced organizations, the circadian rhythms of adolescents shift later, delaying when these students can naturally fall asleep and when they need to wake to get the recommended 8-10 hours of sleep per night; and

WHEREAS, insufficient sleep increases the risk of depression, anxiety, illness, obesity, athletic injuries, drug use, suicide, as well as other negative impacts;

BE IT RESOLVED, the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education agrees that insufficient sleep for middle and high school students is  a critical health issue.

WHEREAS, highly renowned health-related organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, Center for Disease Control, American Medical Association, and  American Psychological Association deem that insufficient sleep for adolescents is a major health concern and recommend a healthy start time of 8:30 or later; and

WHEREAS, scientific research has demonstrated that later start times do lead to better sleep for middle and high school students; and

WHEREAS,  the Bridgewater-Raritan of Education believes moving to later school start times for high school and middle school students will lead to improvement in areas such as student mental health, physical health, safety, attendance,  and school climate; and

WHEREAS, the Board continues to solicit and welcome the input and collaboration of parents, students and staff, as well as associations, community groups and vendors (e.g., busing companies and athletic facilities);

BE IT RESOLVED that a plan be developed by June 2020 for potential implementation for the start of the 2021-2022 school year to move the middle school and high school to later, healthier school start times while balancing the developmental needs of primary and intermediate school student; and

BE IT ALSO RESOLVED, implementation will have as its target the optimum start time of 8:30 or later but that our ability to fully support this initiative may be dependent on factors such as other school districts in the county, cost, and busing; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board President establish a School Start Time Citizens Advisory Committee, following the guidelines in Board Policy and Regulation 9140, to provide a recommendation for the Board to review by June 2020; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the Bridgewater-Raritan Board of Education recognizes there are many factors which impact the health and well-being of our students, therefore other efforts, including the work of the Health and Wellness Action Team, shall continue the exploration and implementation of additional initiatives to benefit our students.

As part of our Strategic Plan, the Board is constantly looking at ways to positively impact the health and wellness of our students, staff, and B-R community.  The research on secondary start times demonstrates, overwhelmingly, that earlier start times negatively impact the sleep patterns of our students. The power of the research has impelled districts and states across the country are exploring responsible ways to start secondary-level schools later to support healthier sleep patterns for students.

According to medical professionals and every study done on the sleep needs of secondary-aged students: Yes.

Rather than detail everything again here, please see the resources on our School Schedules page, here.

Further, in every district as the conversation on SSTs is raised, the same questions are asked:

• Is this really an issue?
• Won't we just be "babying" our students?
• I was fine, why do we need a change?
• Won't students just go to bed later?
• Can't they just go to bed earlier?
• Aren't there other, more important changes a school district can make?
• Won't sports and other activities be unable to continue?
• Aren't technology and social media really to blame?
• Shouldn't parents take the responsibility for their child's sleep?

And the same research is always cited.

We have asked and answered these questions as well. The research that we have used and the responses we received from our surveys show no differences between B-R and the rest of the country.

These are just a few of the FAQs from other agencies and districts that demonstrate the consistency of the conversations:

• Massachusetts Start School Later
• Radnor Township Schools
• New Canaan Schools

There are literally dozens of similar sites, all with the same research-based answers to the questions we in B-R have been tackling over the past year.

What this tells us is, yes, when it comes to the health and wellness of our secondary students, this an important issue.

No.

The Board has deliberately taken its time to ensure that the wealth of research could be thoroughly reviewed and understood; that the community could be engaged and multiple stakeholders could be heard; that we could work with our staff and other districts in the county; that transportation options could be found and understood; that the impact to all aspects of the district and the community could be discussed; and, that a clear plan, including financial impact, could be developed.

We began our exploration of this topic more than a year ago. During the past 12 months, we have:

• shared all of the research the Board reviewed publicly (research here)
• issued surveys of students, staff, and families (results here)
• brought in a local pediatrician/school board physician to review research (presentation here)
• held a meeting with the executive county superintendent and superintendent and Board representative from each district in Somerset County 
• held an open forum (video here)
• held two public meetings for parents of younger students (video here)
• met with leaders of all four B-R associations
• hired a transportation consultant to provide guidance on options and costs (presentation here)
• held a meeting with the executive county superintendent and superintendent, high school principal, and athletic administrator from each district in Somerset County
• held two meetings open to all staff members
• emailed staff and families
• discussed this topic at almost every open meeting of the Board throughout 2019
• have scheduled for January:
  • meetings with BRHS students and administration
  • second meeting with B-R association leaders
  • Board Retreat on January 6 and Board meeting on January 21
• and are scheduling further countywide meetings, meetings with staff in our schools, and public meetings in conjuction with our PTOs

Given the research and the impact that our current start times are having on our students right now, there is a great deal of attention focused on this topic and a desire to do what is best for our students; however, the process has not been rushed.

This issue was actually created decades ago as districts wrestled with increasing financial burdens. Significant savings were found by tiering bus routes so the same bus could be used multiple times in a single day. We are understanding, only recently, how this decision to create financial savings also created our current health issue.

For this reason, transportation, or more accurately the cost of transportation, will be impacted by any change to our current system.  This is why we asked our transportation consultant to detail every categorical option available to the Board.

What we have learned is that while some options would almost double our current budget, other options have little to no cost and one option will actually cost the district less than we currently spend.

So, regardless of what option is chosen, there will be a financial impact, but that impact varies greatly and includes cost-neutral and cost-savings options.

The Board though, does not view this as a simple financial decision. The impact of each option is being weighed not only in the cost of dollars and cents, but also in how each improves the health and wellness of our students and how each impacts families and the continued operation of our district, our programs, and the larger B-R community.

No.

Within our strategic plan, health and wellness is one of six areas of action. It is an area that encompasses a wide variety of issues. The district continues to be focused on all ways it can better support our students and their families.

At almost every public meeting and presentation, this idea has been shared and the variety of programs provided and actions taken have been continually discussed.

Proactively, the district does a great many things to support health and wellness.

• We employ a P-12 team of counselors, student assistance and mental health professionals, and health instructors. These staff members work with students and their families every day to promote healthy choices, provide education on important issues, and work through existing situations to keep our students safe.
• We train all staff annually to be aware of warning signs and to appropriately connect students with resources in and beyond the district.
• We implement curricula at every grade level that address health and lifestyle questions.
• We put together our One and All team, with representatives from every building, to unify our supportive work.
• We implemented Start with Hello to address social isolation, self-confidence, inclusion, and communication.
• We redesigned our website to include easy-to-find:
  • Wellness Resources
  • Student Resources
  • Parent Resources
• Our website also provides specific support for families for healthy Social Media use.
• We have made changes to our Homework policy and practices as we better understand the impact they have on students and families.
• We are not only examining SSTs, but daily schedules as well to understand how we can structure our days differently to better support students and families.
• We have provided through email and evening presentations a wealth of resources to help students and parents address issues related to technology and social media.
• We have implemented digital citizenship curricula and connected this with STAR.

Yes.

Throughout the process, the Board has consistently questioned the impact of changes to our SSTs on our before and after school programs.

We participated in a collaborative meeting with principals and athletic directors from across the county to discuss what the impact might be on our athletic programs. Principals also weighed in on the impact to other extra- and co-curricular programs as well as our county vocational programming. There were real issues raised but most if not all can be addressed through careful planning and clear collaboration. Two central ideas were consistently repeated:

• there is a health issue; and
• change is coming, so we should work together it brings the desired, positive impact.

The Board has also continued to discuss impact to families. While we cannot predict from one family to the next the changed reality under a new SST versus the current reality, it has become evident that there is no one answer. Our current reality and any new reality chosen will impact different families differently; however, the Board's creation of BR CARES will allow us to continue to support families flexibly. 

At this time, no decision has been made but all timelines are still under consideration. This includes a possible change for the 2020-2021 school year.

The Board is looking to make a decision before February 1.

This refers to the period by period schedule for students during any day. For example, students at the middle and high school currently attend either eight or nine, respectively, periods each day. Periods are approximately 40 minutes each.

This means that students must prepare for every class within their schedule each and every day. 

There are a wide variety of options for daily schedules that include rotation of classes and longer blocks of learning time, many of which help reduce the daily load on students.

Focusing on our strategic statement: We will focus always on what is best for our students, the principals of the middle and high school have put together teams of representative staff. Each team is currently researching scheduling options, often visiting other districts and bringing in representatives. They will compare those options to our current schedules and make recommendations to the Board's Academic Committee and then to the entire Board.

No.

Teams at the middle and high schools have been asked to present recommendations to the Board in April/May of 2020. If the Board decides to make a change, it will do so before the summer of 2020 with implementation of the change to occur in September of 2021 for the 2021-2022 school year.

This will allow the entire 2020-2021 school year for professional development and communication with students and families prior to any change occurring.