WAKE-UP CALL FOR BPS

Proposal may change start times systemwide

Parents and teachers are calling for later start times for high school students and earlier times for elementary kids as the district moves to shift schedules for the coming year.

“Parents are upset kids are getting out after dark, but way after dark,” said Chris Leonard, a teacher at the O’Donnell Elementary School. “We would like to petition the School Committee to move the time up to 8:30 a.m. from 9:30.”

Boston Public Schools, in a new proposed policy presented yesterday, is considering systemwide changes to school start times with the goal of increasing the number of high school students starting after 8 a.m. and increasing the number of elementary students leaving before 4 p.m.

With help from a team of MIT researchers, BPS Chief of Operations John Hanlon said the potential bell changes would be “more robust than what any school district has experienced in the last few years.”

The school department, however, isn’t revealing any information about specific start times. It won’t announce any changes until Dec. 7 — a day after the School Committee votes on the policy recommendation.

The district has grappled with its bell times for decades — and school officials acknowledge shifting times won’t be as easy as it looks to balance busing and different schools’ needs. The district’s 125 schools start variously at 7:30 am, 8:30 a.m. or 9:30 a.m.

The possible maneuvering comes as more science research suggests high school kids benefit more by starting later.

“We’re not taking that lightly,” said Hanlon. “This does have effects on families, and we’re mindful of that, but we’re trying to look at this from a macro perspective and do what we think is right for the whole district.”

Marc Draisen, a Boston Latin Academy parent, said “as many schools as possible” should start at 8:30 a.m.

Deb Putnam, a parent at Boston Latin Academy, said: “It is time we do this for our students and families.”