End of Year Update

December has been a busy month for the Arlington chapter of Start School Later. Here's a summary. The district school start time committee completed its work on December 2. After voicing concern about the limitations of the committee to the chair, we were given the opportunity to make recommendations to the district. With the help of a couple other supporters, we were able to insure that the adolescent sleep research was reviewed. The committee recommended that all district high schools begin after 8:00 am and the order of schools in the tiered system be re-evaluated. However, the chair stated that the district did not have a time frame to respond to the committee's recommendations! In an on-line article by CBS-11 on December 11, a district spokesperson denied that the committee had forwarded recommendations to the district. I issued an official press release in response to the misinformation on December 13. NBC-5 interviewed Cheryl Till and me on December 17. This time the district's public relations director acknowledged the recommendations made by the committee, but stated the district had no immediate plans to act on the recommendations. On December 19, the school start time committee conclusions and recommendations were forwarded to the superintendent and the school board in writing and signed by the parents and students on the committee. My numerous requests for a meeting with Superintendent Cavazos have been denied. The next meeting of the school board is Thursday, January 15. Although I don't anticipate high school start times will be an agenda item, it is time to address the board. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend. We need many supporters in attendance to impress upon the board to that it is time for the school district to act!