Letter: Rep. Hearn, be part of the solution

Posted 3/29/17

To the editor:

Dear Representative Hearn, in your letter, you said you believe in the science, but are concerned about the mandate, why not work with the sponsors to create a pilot or seed …

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Letter: Rep. Hearn, be part of the solution

Posted

To the editor:

Dear Representative Hearn, in your letter, you said you believe in the science, but are concerned about the mandate, why not work with the sponsors to create a pilot or seed program that would make funds available to any district ready to implement in the next few years. This way it is a choice for every town to do so. As you are aware, the 8:30 start time is endorsed by the AAP, CDC, AMA and NHTSA as the earliest adolescents should start school. This is because they all feel that the research is so overwhelming that kid’s health does better with later start times. 

Read Rep. Hearn's letter.

As you know, Barrington School Committee passed the 8:30 a.m. on start time Jan. 7, 2016. It was delayed for one year, while an ad hoc committee worked through some details. All sports and after school activities will happen despite the misinformation by the opposition to the start time change. Start time change is overwhelmingly supported by the Barrington residents. They have voted to keep school committee members that support start time change in the majority. 

I support an 8:30 start because, according to the Challenge to Success survey data, our high school students sleep an average of only 6:45 hours per night. When the ideal minimum amount of sleep per night for teenagers is 9 hours. This means that our average kids here in Barrington are accruing an 11-hour sleep deficit each five-day week of school. This means to make up for this deficit our kids would need to sleep 14.5 hours per night each weekend night.  

By going to an 8:30 start time from the current 7:40 start time we grant our kids an additional 50 minutes of sleep daily. During the 5-plus-year process that start times has been researched here in Barrington, we also discovered that our bus times were incredibly long for such a small town. Two years ago we had run times from 55 minutes to 1 hour and 2 minutes. By adding two buses last year and three more this year, the longest run time could be 35 minutes. This will probably add another 20-25 minutes of sleep time for our students. This means that we can expect to have students getting at least 8 hours of sleep per night average in the upcoming 2017-18 school year. If you like percentages, the current start time creates a 25 percent sleep deficit. Going to an 8:30 start time with the proper amount of buses will cut this to an 11.2 percent sleep deficit. 

If you choose to amend your statement and support H-5888 or an incentive program you could make this change possible. The $200,000 would be helpful for us and other communities that have already done the work and want to proceed with start time change that is in the best interest of all our students.

Legislation is supposed to be about finding common ground that works for all.

Sincerely

Paul J O’Brien Jr.

Barrington

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