Film Screening, Panel Discussion puts Later School Start Times in Focus

Anyone interested in the ongoing discussion about starting school later in East Greenwich should make sure their calendars are clear this Saturday.

Following the East Greenwich School Committee’s formation earlier this year of an ad-hoc committee to explore the possibility of later start times, members of the Start School Later East Greenwich group, along with The Academy Foundation, have organized a screening of the film “Race to Nowhere” followed by a panel discussion featuring three notable experts and East Greenwich’s own Bob Houghtaling, director of the East Greenwich Drug Program.

Catherine Rodgers, one of the parents leading the effort to get the district talking about a possible change, said the film is powerful and could make a big difference here in EG. And it is a great launching point for the important discussion about later start times, she said.

The film features a number of young students across the country who ” have been pushed to the brink, educators who are burned out and worried that students aren’t developing the skills they need, and parents who are trying to do what’s best for their kids,” according to a description on the Race to Nowhere Web site. “In a grassroots sensation already feeding a groundswell for change, hundreds of theaters, schools and organizations nationwide are hosting community screenings during a six month campaign to screen the film nationwide. Tens of thousands of people are coming together, using the film as the centerpiece for raising awareness, radically changing the national dialogue on education and galvanizing change.”

Following the screening, the panel guests will discuss the film as well as the ramifications of later start times in East Greenwich and school districts across Rhode Island.

Featured speakers are (along with Houghtaling): Dr. Patricia Flanagan, president of the Rhode Island chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics; Dr. Kathering Sharkey, professor of sleep medicine at Brown University; and Dr. Fortunado Procopio, director of health services at the University of Rhode Island.

“This is truly a powerhouse of thinkers, researchers and advocates for children’s health,” said Amy Snyder, another parent who has attended school committee meetings and worked to build momentum behind the SSL group’s effort.

The event will be at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church at 99 Peirce St. in East Greenwich. It begins at 4 p.m.

The formation of the committee was the goal of a group of parents who have for months been pushing for the district to explore later start times, citing a growing pool of evidence that equates academic success and overall well-being with a later start to the day.

The group, which has been using a Facebook group to raise awareness of their plans, is aware of the uphill battle in changing school start and end times.

The reality is that a school community gets used to routine. Athletic teams have practice and games after school. The bus schedules would have to change, and that means other school districts and out of district placements would have to be changed. Day care and babysitters would be looking at a new reality. Morning and afternoon routines would be upended.

Studies and experience shows that adolescents and teenagers are biologically wired to stay up later and get up later in the morning. It also is evident that students who get to school with an extra hour of sleep or more do better in class, pay attention more and otherwise learn more while in school.

There are safety reasons, too.

“Kids are catching buses at 7 a.m. in the winter in the dark, standing on dark street corners,” Rodgers said in an earlier interview. She noted that many students participate in music activities, such as at Archie R. Cole Middle School, where they arrive as early as 6:35 a.m. to participate.

And children today are encouraged to participate in after school activities and sports, so they’re coming home later in the afternoon with homework still to do. So the suggestion that they get to bed earlier leaves the question: when would they get to do their homework?

“There’s just so many safety issues involved, as well as reduced tardiness and delinquency and academic success,” Rodgers said. “In all the studies that that have to do with sleep levels in teenagers — biologically, they’re more inclined to fall asleep later and wake up later. There’s something about the circadian rhythm with this particular age group.”

Catch the trailer for the film below: