Parents Give Input into Greenwich School Start Times

GREENWICH, CT- Parents shared their thoughts and concerns about proposed changes to the Greenwich Public Schools start and end time schedule.

About 50 people attended a forum Wednesday night, according to Greenwich Time.

Some parents said that their children struggle with early start times for the high school and middle schools.

Related: Greenwich Schools Seek Input on Start/End Time Change

Several said that moving Greenwich High's start time from 7:30 a.m. to 8 wouldn't be enough and that The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that secondary students don't start classes before 8:30 a.m.

Other parents, especially those of elementary school children worried that pushing start times past 9 a.m. would make it difficult to balance getting children to school and getting to work.

School Bus Consultants came up with seven options. Currently the high school starts at 7:30 a.m., middle schools at 7:45, early elementary schools at 8:15 and late elementary schools at 8:45.

Options would change the high school start time anywhere from 8 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. Middle school start time proposals are from 7:45 to 9:30 and elementary school would be 7:30 and 9:45.

The various options come with different additional costs. The cheapest would cost the district an additional $180,000 and the most expensive would be $1.62 million. Certain proposals would necessitate a greater number of additional buses.

Read the full Greenwich Time story here.