Moving School Start Time Ramps Up

Moving the start time for the high school will have an impact on every student in Barrington.

Moving the school start time must be based on what is best for student achievement.

Moving the start time must involve as much information distributed to as many members of the community as possible.

The Barrington School Committee agreed to all these statement at its meeting Thursday night.

Agreement on these statements came during a preliminary report on moving the high school start time by Principal Joseph Hurley and George Finn, director of athletics and student activities. They are part of a committee of school officials that has been studying the start time at the high school.

“The data is indisputable” on the benefits of a later start time for teenagers, said Hurley. “Why would we not want to do this?”

Before answering that question, Hurley said, it must be recognized that moving back the start time at the high school from 7:40 am to 8:15 or 8:30 am “will affect every other student in the district, not just the high school.”

And the rollout of changing the start time at all the schools won’t happen overnight, he said. It could take up to two years to implement.

A major concern is bus transportation.

“I think we have discussed most of the hurdles,” Hurley said. “The transportation piece is the biggest issue."

Barrington contracts with First Student right now for nine busses. Additional busses might be needed to handle the new start times – at $51,000 a bus, said Superintendent Robert McIntyre.

“The logistical pieces need to be worked on,” Hurley said. “And we need to get more stakeholders involved.”

Most high schools in Rhode Island start at 8:15 or 8:20 am, Hurley said, so Barrington should be able to do this. But Finn said he still had concerns about a later start time on athletics.

“There will be challenges” for certain sports, in particular, he said, such as soccer and field hockey, which travel together in the fall. Getting rink time for ice hockey could be more difficult later in the afternoon. And most golf courses want student teams to start as early as possible in the afternoon.

Many schools allow golfers out of their final period of the day to accommodate match starting times, Finn said.

Parent Megan Douglas, who heads the district's Health and Wellness Committee, has been a prime proponent of moving back the high school start time for about a year. She echoed most of what Hurley said.

“We know a later school start time is beneficial to student achievement,” she said.

So, discussion of the benefits must be ramped up, Douglas said.

“We need to get people talking and involved,” she said.

School Committee Chairman Patrick Guida said his focus on this issue is “what’s best for student achievement.” He asked Douglas if she knew of any data that says “Barrington should leave things as they are.”

Douglas said she knew of no data and she has studied a variety of school districts who are benefiting from later start times for teens.

To create an opportunity for community input, the School Committee decided to set up a public forum in late January to disseminate as much information as possible and to hear the pros and cons from parents and other people effected by changing start times.

“You need to come back with some specific information,” said School Committee member Chris Ramsden. “This is too nebulous right now.”

“I think the information-gathering is sufficient,” said School Committee member Kate Brody.  “It now needs to be presented to PTOs and other groups.”