Review Continues Of Greenwich Schools Start Time

GREENWICH, CT — In keeping with its promise to inform parents and others of the progress made this year with the implementation of later school start times, the district this week released the below update about the move and possible changes:

The District continues to monitor and study data and information with regard to the impact of changing school start times (SST), while implementing immediate short-term solutions and planning toward sustainable long-term solutions. The SST Updates will be provided at least monthly through the end of the school year.

DATA COLLECTION

Administration is compiling data, including, but not limited to parent, student and staff surveys, bus schedules and routes, attendance rates, early dismissals for student-athletes, achievement data, traffic, and research on options for expanded access to or use of athletic fields. This data and information will be reviewed and analyzed comprehensively to identify options and recommendations to address the challenges associated with the later start/dismissal time for GPS secondary schools.

Administration will present a status update to the the Board of Education in February 2018.

Surveys - Stakeholder survey data will be reviewed and considered as part of a review of data collected to assess the impacts of changing school start times.

❖ GHS Student Sleep Survey: The second administration of the High School Student Sleep Survey was conducted in October. The baseline survey was administered last spring (2017), and an abbreviated version of the survey is scheduled to be administered again in spring 2018.
❖ GHS Student Survey: A survey that parallels the parent and staff surveys and covers students’ experiences this year beyond sleep patterns, will be conducted in January 2018.
❖ PK-12 Parent Survey: Deadline Friday, December 15. Parent Survey links have been sent directly from the research company (email address: Greenwich@qualtrics-survey.com; subject: Greenwich Public Schools - School Start Time Survey) to all PK-12 parents.
❖ PK-12 Staff Survey: Deadline Friday, December 15. Staff Survey links have been sent directly from the research company (email address: Greenwich@qualtrics-survey.com; subject: Greenwich Public Schools - School Start Time Survey) to all PK-12 staff.

ATHLETICS

As was announced last spring, all sports teams will participate this year. We will dismiss early enough for athletes to reach the contest venues in time. We will continue to assess the number of early dismissals, the amount of missed class time, and the amount of time spent in travel prior to making any determinations about the continuation of certain sports for 2018-19.

District administration, working with Town administrators, continue to explore options for expanding practice and contest field access and/or use in preparation for 2018-2019 athletics program.

TRANSPORTATION

The District is currently working on a solution for better bus arrival and dismissal timing throughout the district including both public and private schools. If this solution is successful, by combining routes we will free up buses that will assist with the timing issues we are experiencing on a small percentage of routes.

An external analysis of bus routing and timing for system optimization is being conducted by Dr. Ali Haghani from the University of Maryland.

FEEDBACK

We are interested in your experiences with the change and encourage you to continue to share your comments and concerns.

❖ For transportation-related issues: please submit your comments online at: www.greenwichschools.org/transportation or call 203-625-7443.
❖ For all other comments, including related to after-school commitments (extra-curricular, athletics, etc.): please email Elizabeth-ann_carabillo@greenwich.k12.ct.us

Photo credit: David Gurliacci