Changing School Start Times Wilton Connecticut Schools Students Before Grades am - PDF document

Start Times:Wilton, Connecticut Before:Grades 6-12: 7:35 am, After: Grades 3-5: 7:35 am, Grades 6-12: 8:15am Summary Wilton, a small suburban community, made theschool students through the efforts of its League ofWomen Voters (LWV). After a two-year process, focused concerns of parents of younger kids, Wilton got itsgetting more sleep and are healthier and happier. Wilton, Connecticut is a suburban community in thet of the state. The Wilton School District,for grades K-2 housing a total of 990 students, grades3-5 with 1,030 students, a middle school of 1,000 students and the high school of 1,230 students, giving2 starting at 7:35 am, grades 3-5 at 8:15 amand grades K-2 at 9:00 am. The middle and highof the students. The district receives almost 100% of Challenge change in start times. First, Wilton is a self-describedÒsports town.Ó The Wilton Sports Council, a body repre-and other private sports organizations, was a toughopponent to the change. They insisted that any changein start times would lead to the expulsion of Wiltonwho would not reap the benefits of changing startingarrive earlier. country, WiltonÕs budget was tight and they thereforehad to consider options to change start times thatTherefore, cost effective options were easier to find. Champions The Wilton League of Women Voters (WLWV) led theeffort for a later start time for WiltonÕs teenagers. TheWLWV initiated a research and study project in theWilton community, which eventually provided the Wilton, CT have been so successful, the WLWV hasand encourage other districts to follow their lead. Theyhave, in fact, been instrumental in supporting thetford, CT. The WLWVÕs role in the process was to gather andadvocates for the change. They understood from thebeginning that it was the Board of Education and implement the change. However, the WLWV providedan important component of this process: the blueprint Adolescent Sleep Initiative for raising community awareness. Their plan includedidentification of pertinent organizations that would needgroup as the coalition builder of groups larger than theschool community, and finally a map for educating the Journey The Seeds: Wilton first encountered the issue of later school starttimes when then Connecticut Senate President KevinSullivan gave a presentation on the issue to the WLWVin October 2001. In response to this, the WLWV assem-report on their findings. This group spent six monthssubject, interviewing experts, and talking with the Edina,the change in start times. In the spring of 2002, thedelayed start times, and later published the study groupeb at www.lwvct.org/wilton).The WLWV invited the superintendent and the Board ofEducation to attend this presentation. The superintend-were also part of the WLWV, so the administration was Public Involvement: support as possible for this issue through educating thepublic. The group brought their findings to any groupThe WLWV understood from their research that itdesigning a proposal to change the start times. This Center for Sleep Disorders with the help of the WiltonHigh School Student Government in the spring of 2002.The survey was sent home with students or mailedThe results, once tabulated, were also available on the Web site. During this time, the Wilton Education Foundation퉗iltonÕs Youth Under PressureÓ to provide an opportu-nity for the entire community to discuss the issue. TheConnecticut Thoracic Society convened a task forcemade up of the WLWV and the Connecticut PTA to dis-cuss strategies for raising awareness and advocating forlater school start times. WiltonÕs strategy was to informsleep research that supported their efforts to changeschool start times. The Administration Gets Involved: In a public meeting in January 2003, WiltonÕs super-start time for adolescents and that he was consideringvarious options on exactly how to do so. The WLWV awareness coordinators, and that the detailed logisticsThe superintendent became the driving force behindtions answered and to voice their concerns. The majordiscussed the issue with the athletic conference chair,who agreed on the importance of the change andremoved from the conference. The superintendent alsothe K-2 students. Finally, he promised that no student The Change: proposed start times to the staff and the PTA for review.aspects of the issue. By May 2003, the board voted toapprove the change in start times.