HSE School Start Times – Letter from the Superintendent

Bradley Jones

Dr. Bourff, the superintendent of HSE Schools, sent out a message to parents about his impending proposal of two options for changing school start times. As his letter states, these changes could happen as soon as next year. The HSE School Board will be discussing this topic once again at the February 12th, 2020 board meeting and could take action at that time.

I’ve included the content of the superintendent’s message below. I’ve included a few other items of reference as well. These include:

Note that the first two videos were captured after the meeting had started using a cell phone. The three videos from the working session don’t have the best sound due to the heating system in the board room being so loud. These are provided, however, as reference so you can hear some of the discussion and feedback that has been happening.

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The Message from the Superintendent

Dear Parents, Guardians and Staff: 

I want to share an update with you regarding the discussions around a proposed change to school start times.  

For the past several months, at the direction of the school board, our administrative team has been researching and identifying outcomes of other neighboring school districts that moved to an earlier start for elementary students and a later start for secondary students.

In addition to our research, since November 2019, we have also solicited feedback from the school community in the following ways:

  • Community Forum (Nov. 19, 2019)
  • Online Survey (Nov.-Dec. 2019)
  • School Board Meetings (Jan. 15, 2020 and Jan. 29, 2020)
  • Board Work Session (Jan. 27, 2020)

I want you to know that a decision still has not been made by our school board. However, the issue is slated for discussion and possible action at the February 12 meeting. Its implementation could begin as soon as the 2020-2021 school year.

At the Board’s request, I will be presenting the following two different options. Each come with their own set of advantages and disadvantages, which I will discuss further during our meeting.

OPTION 1

Start times of high school and elementary students will be flipped, and we will utilize a three-tier transportation schedule. 

Elementary:                               7:50 AM – 2:20 PM

Intermediate/Junior High:        8:20 AM – 3:20 PM

High School:                              8:55 AM – 3:55 PM

Advantages of Option 1 include:

  • Supports adolescent sleep pattern research.
  • Provides consistent student day with no need for early release.
  • Provides Professional Development time for teachers and staff.
  • Three-tier transportation schedule relieves demands of the drivers required to transport students and allows for direct bussing for Student Choice at the high schools.

Disadvantages:

  • Will require some families to rethink childcare for younger students and may impact parent and high school student work schedules.

OPTION 2

We will implement a three-tier transportation schedule with the following start times listed below for 2020-21. Then, we would transition to Option 1 start times for 2021-22. This would give families an additional year to make arrangements in their schedules to accommodate “flipped” start times.

High School:                              7:30 AM – 2:30 PM

Intermediate/Junior High:        8:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Elementary:                               9:00 AM – 3:30 PM

Advantages of Option 2 are as follows:

  • Provides consistent student day with no need for early release.
  • Provides Professional Development time for teachers and staff.
  • Three-tier transportation schedule relieves demands of the drivers required to transport students and allows for direct bussing for Student Choice at the high schools.

Disadvantages:

  • Not supported by adolescent sleep pattern research.
  • Families may still need childcare for their intermediate and junior high-level students.
  • Stair-step approach would cause families to deal with changing start times two consecutive years.

I have given you a lot of information to consider here. I wanted to share this update to be fully transparent about the process and the possible path ahead.

I understand the challenges of change and the adjustments that families and staff members face. I encourage you to learn more about this possible upcoming school board decision by reviewing the video recordings of the previous board meetings and by checking the School Start Time Information webpage.

I have also attached a list of FAQs that may help answer some of your questions.

Thank you for your continued support of our students, staff and schools.  

Sincerely,

Dr. Allen B. Bourff

Superintendent

Hamilton Southeastern Schools

School Start Times FAQ