School Start Times Citizen Advisory Committee

Dear Westford Public Schools Community,

On behalf of the School Start Times Citizen Advisory Committee, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for your help and to provide to you an update on our work.

The advisory committee was created in order to provide research and recommendations to the school committee regarding any potential changes to the Westford Public School start and end times.  The dozen volunteers have spent the last three months conducting research, evaluating options and understanding the impacts of any proposed changes.

To accomplish our goal, the work was split into three categories: student well-being, finance and transportation, and student and family schedules.  We have evaluated dozens of research studies to understand how school times affect the health, well-being and academic performance of our students. We have worked with town and district staff to understand how the school times affect transportation, not only for those who ride the bus, but those who drop off and pick up students or take advantage of the before and after school options available in town.  We have investigated the financial impacts of proposed changes, recognizing the current budget environment. We have studied the impacts that any change could have on our families and their activities, both in and out of school.

Recently, surveys went out to solicit inputs from parents, staff and students on this topic and the response was incredible.  Nearly 1700 parents, over 400 staff and more than 500 (and still counting) middle and high school students have made their voices heard.  We can’t tell you how helpful it is to hear from the community as we study this issue. This data, along with the other research has been vital to understand how any change affects our community.

As we near our recommendation to the school committee, we thank all of you for your inputs and your support.  We respect everybody’s time and commitments, both in and out of school. As we weigh the options and finalize our recommendation, we are focused on what is best for our students and our community, while living within our fiscal constraints.

Sincerely,

David Goldstein

Chair, School Start Times Citizen Advisory Committee