BPS parents outraged at changes in school start times

BOSTON — Parents in Boston are dissatisfied with the significant schedule changes the Boston Public School system announced earlier this week.

Out of the district's 125 schools, 105 will have new bell times, and many parents are saying it's a schedule change they can't make in time for the next school year.

"So many families were so drastically impacted," said Jane Miller, a parent at JP Miller School.

Last Thursday, the Boston School Committee released new school start times for the 2018-19 school year.

The new times allow 94 percent of high school and middle school students to sleep later by pushing the start times to begin after 8 a.m.

Elementary students, however, will start school earlier and get out earlier in many of the schools.

The decision comes after research from MIT concluded children - especially teenagers - need more sleep, and that it can actually help improve their test scores.

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Another positive side affect - it can help alleviate rush hour traffic, with buses on the road later in the morning and earlier in the afternoon.

The modified schedule will also allow kids to walk home when it's still light out - even in the dead of winter.

But for these parents, the new schedule will mean major, unwanted changes for their families.

"My wife and I were able to juggle our schedules that one could drop off and one could pick up my three older daughters through the schools and so we have our system down really well and now a two hour swim both ways is really throwing off our schedule," said Ed Coppinger, a parent at the Patrick Lyndon School.

The outraged parents are also saying they never had a chance to offer input on the changes, something the school district disputes in a statement where the superintendent says, in part:

"I am confident that next year's school bell schedule will be an improvement for the majority of families, and is reflective of the feedback we have received from thousands of students, parents and staff."

However, many parents say the decision is forcing them to make other major changes.

"They're going through the process of do they have to pay for private school or do they have to put a for sale sign in the lawn and move out of the city of Boston," said Coppinger.

The district is currently working on a plan to coordinate the new times with school bus routes and will release a schedule as soon as they solidify the proper times.

Cox Media Group