As anticipated, the Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board voted not to change school start times next academic year. The vote was unanimous, but the matter will likely come up again.
School board directors had been talking about a change to a later start time for secondary students, but the administration recommended last week not to make any changes yet.
As previously reported, the proposal called for a start time of 9 a.m. for grades 6-12, and they would be dismissed at 3:43 p.m. Students in elementary school, pre-first through fifth grade, would be in class from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., while morning kindergarten would go from 8-10:35 a.m. and afternoon kindergarten would go from 11:55 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
But after months of discussion, community conversations, and thought exchanges, many of the stakeholders — including parents, teachers, and students — expressed concerns, according to the administration’s report. Most of those concerns involve the impact of a later start time on after-school activities, possible missed class time for student-athletes, and students staying up later to complete assignments.
An initial change came in 2017 when secondary school start times were moved from 7:35 to 8 a.m. That came about after several years of research led to the conclusion that middle school and high school students need more morning sleep because they no longer produce melatonin to the degree they did when they were younger and, therefore, can’t fall asleep as early as they used to.
The district made the change for safety and health reasons and said start times could be changed again. Not changing start times now does not preclude a change in the future. The recommendation is that the topic should be revisited based on how a new start time would line up with other schools in the Ches-Mont league, whether the transportation department has a full complement of drivers, or whether the state mandates a later start time, 8:30 a.m. or later.
Other business
• Also passing unanimously was a policy change regarding exempting students from vaccinations. The policy still allows exemptions based on “a strong moral or ethical conviction similar to a religious belief,” but not on philosophical grounds. The policy may be found here. The policy for required immunizations per grade can be found here.
• The board also voted to lease two electric buses for $28,000 per year per bus. That measure passed by 5-4. Directors Raski Akki, Elise Anderson, Victoria Baretta, Jennifer Brown, and Erin Talbert voted in favor; Jeff Hellrung, John Murphy, Robert Sage, and Steven Simonson voted no. The board previously voted to buy two new diesel buses.
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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