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BPS will not implement new start, end times for next school year

BOSTON — In a letter addressed to the Boston Public Schools community, Superintendent Tommy Chang has announced the district will not be implementing new start and end times for the next school year.

PREVIOUSBoston public schools to change start and release times next year          

The decision comes after a large part of the community voiced their concerns regarding the impact the new start and end times would have on families across the district.

The letter says, in part:

"Over the past few weeks, we have heard from families, staff, and stakeholders that there are concerns with the implementation of the new start and end times policy. After reflecting on this feedback, we understand that while the new schedule would achieve our goal of supporting academic success for all ages, the shifts to many school start times caused a more significant disruption to family schedules than we intended. That is why I have decided not to implement the new start and end times that we have proposed for the 2018-2019 school year."

After several meetings were held this week, parents and guardians were able to speak on how the new start and end times would affect their families so they, together with the school committee, could address any and all concerns.

BPS first announced they would be making changes to the start and end times for the next school year at the beginning of the month, citing MIT studies on childhood and adolescent brain development as a primary reason for these changes.

MORE: Parents protest Boston's new school start times

According to the superintendent, pushing back start and end times would be beneficial to the student's overall academic performance, but many parents say the district failed to contact them prior to making such a big decision.

“We're going to spend the next eight months talking to people and talking to community leaders and talking to the schools about how we come up with a better system,” Mayor Marty Walsh said.

The letter goes on to say:

"Going forward, we will focus our efforts on continued and improved engagement with all of our families and community members to solve the problems necessary to build a more coherent school system. This includes developing a new schedule of start and end times for future school years that is grounded in equity and better meets the needs of our students and families. We must share a collaborative spirit, and work together to find solutions to repair the institutional inequities that persist. We will now have an opportunity to bring more people to the table to create stronger schools that prepare our students for college, career, and life. I look forward to gathering a wider circle of voices from across the city. We want to provide greater opportunities for everyone to share their viewpoints, expertise, and experiences and offer concrete solutions to this challenge as well as the many others that face us. There is a deep desire throughout the BPS community to solve problems. We will be asking for your help in building a more effective, equitable, and sustainable school system for our great City of Boston. In the coming months, we will be building on the current engagement process that will allow us to address start and end times as well as other strategic priorities we hope to achieve in the near future."

Read the full letter here. 

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