On September 14th, 2022, the Lexington superintendent Dr. Julie Hackett presented a proposal to change the school hours from 9 am-3:30 pm to 7:40 am-2:10 pm for elementary students only, starting with the 2023-2024 school year (with no changes to high school or middle school hours). Here is the link to the presentation. 

We strongly oppose this change which will greatly impact the 2500+ kids currently in the six Lexington elementary schools, and the reasons are below.

1. The sleep time of elementary students will be deprived and thus their health as well 

Per the recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics, children 6 to 12 years of age should sleep 9 to 12 hours per 24 hours on a regular basis to promote optimal health. As an example, if a child needed to be up by 6:30 am to prepare for school, an 8 pm bedtime would allow for 10.5 hours of sleep. With many elementary kids having older brothers or sisters who won’t sleep at 8 pm, it is almost impossible for them to go to bed at 8 pm.

Even if the younger kids do sleep at 8 pm, that would leave almost no time for precious family quality time, especially for working parents!  According to research, children are less likely to have behavioral issues at home or at school with more quality time with their parents.

Additionally, it is well known that students who eat breakfast have improved academic performance and behavior. Because many elementary students could not just go to bed 80 minutes earlier, they may have to often skip breakfast to get to school on time. 

2. Before-school clubs are impossible to happen

Currently, many elementary schools have before-school clubs such as math club or chess club, with the proposed 7:40 am school start time, those clubs would have to start at 6:40 am, which is again impossible and ridiculous. 

Most of those clubs are run by parent volunteers, and most of them also do work, which means that it is more likely for them to volunteer at 8 am since it is before work time, but highly unlikely at 2:30 pm, which is the middle of their work time!

3. The parents will have to pay more for after-school activities

Given the current economy, many families are seeking to reduce costs to accommodate the inflation cost and also prepare for a possible economic downturn. If school ends at 2:10 pm, lots of parents would have to pay close to 4 hours of after-school costs, which will subsequently increase the financial burdens for them. 

Not to mention that both Kidsborough and Hayden currently have a long waitlist for their after-school care. Given the expected increase in after-school enrollment, do they have enough staff and space to handle the increase? 

4. Why can’t we just fix the transportation issues instead of adjusting the elementary schedule?

This school time change proposal seems to happen mostly due to the school bus transportation issue. However, what exactly caused the transportation issues? Are there any ways to increase the efficiency of the current bus routes? Some parents shared that their two kids going to the same elementary school actually take different buses, and their neighbor takes the 3rd bus. Having three buses going to the same neighborhood doesn’t seem to be very efficient! 

We demand that the School Committee investigates the transportation issues more and we should not sacrifice our elementary kids’ sleep time, family time, physical health, and mental health just to solve the transportation issues! 

5. Oct. 25th is way too soon to vote for such an impactful decision for 2500+ kids

The School Committee will vote on the proposal on October 25, 2022, and this is far too soon to vote given the outstanding questions, especially around Kidsborough and Hayden after-school accommodations. Unless the decision has already been made and there is no real consideration for working families and elementary student needs.

So, please sign your petition and let the School Committee hear your voice!