District 220 Approves Later Start Times: What’s Next?

BARRINGTON, IL - The District 220 Board of Education last week approved later school start times beginning in the 2017-18 school year.

The school board voted 5-2 in favor of elementary schools starting at 8 a.m., Barrington High School starting at 8:30 a.m. and Barrington middle schools starting at at 9 a.m. The switch will mean high school students will be starting their day 70 minutes later than they do now and middle school students will also start more than an hour later than their current schedule, according to the Barrington Courier-Review.

Meanwhile, elementary school students will start school an hour earlier than their current start time of 9 a.m. under the changes, according to the Barrington Courier-Review.

Under the new schedule, which was approved on Nov. 8, high school students will end their day at 3:21 p.m., middle school students will finish their day at 3:55 p.m. and elementary school students will get out at 2:40 p.m.

Over the next nine months, District 220 administration will be working to address the operational issues affecting students, staff, parents and community members, according to a District 220 Facebook post. More detail on these operational components will be discussed in further detail with the board over the next several months.

The school district decided to look into switching school start times to help sleep-deprived teens and pre-teens get more rest, which in turn could improve their grades, health and well-being.

While the switch focused on helping older students in the district cope, many parents of elementary school students, who will now be getting out an hour earlier, have been expressing concern about options for after-school care for their children, according to the Daily Herald. The school district is already working with the Barrington Park District to look into expanding its K.E.E.P. program, which offers a structured environment for children before and after school.

"That is the first thing the administration is looking at in terms of operational considerations that need to be addressed because of the start time change," District 220 spokeswoman Morgan Delack told the Daily Herald.

More via the Barrington Courier-Review and the Daily Herald

Photo via the Barrington District 220 Facebook page