Our children are being harmed by the Montclair NJ School District schedules of starting all middle schools at 7:50 AM, and the High School at 8:00 AM.

There is an enormous body of research on school start times, and the universal conclusion is that early start times harm children (for example, see summary from the National Sleep Foundation [1]). The American Academy of Pediatrics takes the position that no schools should start earlier than 8:30 AM (2, 3). The US Centers for Disease Control also takes the position that the earliest start time should be no earlier than 8:30 AM (4). The American Academy of Pediatrics publicized its position on school start times as far back as 2014! Recent research indicates that these start times not only endanger our children, but also endanger the community, with the finding that "early start times for school may contribute to delinquency and substance abuse issues among adolescents" (5).

I testified about this during several Board of Education meetings, but the Board of Education continues to drag its feet on this issue and has failed to take action.

Every day during the academic year that passes continues this insidious abuse of our children. While this may not seem like a large matter, the harm to our children could be characterized by the expression "death by a thousand cuts", which Wikipedia defines as "the way a major change can be accepted as a normal situation if it happens slowly, through unnoticeable increments of change. The change could otherwise be regarded as objectionable if it took place in a single step or short period" (6). Little by little, day by day, our children are incrementally harmed by this abusive schedule.

Most other parents I have spoken to about this agree with me. I sought information to put this on the ballot as a referendum, but the town clerk would not provide me the information needed (e.g., how many signatures needed on a petition), instead told me to hire a lawyer.

I am hope this petition will shame the Board to honor its obligation to protect our children, and change school start times to no earlier than 8:30 AM. Changing schools to later start times should be fast-tracked, no more excuses.

References:
(1) https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/backgrounder-later-school-start-times
(2) http://tinyurl.com/knwhmq2
(3) https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/134/3/642
(4) https://www.cdc.gov/features/school-start-times/index.html
(5) http://tinyurl.com/y4a4vgfl
(6) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creeping_normality#cite_note-1