Barrington School district holds meeting on change in start times

BARRINGTON, R.I. (WLNE) – After eight years of talking about it, the Barrington School District will make a dramatic change to their school start times.

Next school year the middle and high schools will basically switch – with the younger kids going in earlier, and the older kids later.

Superintendent Michael Messore said that he hopes the change will be what is best for the health and well–being of all students.

Parents, students, and teachers got the chance to hear from Barrington school officials Thursday night, as well as experts on sleep, and the mental health of growing children, as it relates to flipping the school start times.

Experts say teens need 8–9 hours of sleep per night.

“I know that there are a lot of studies out there that kind of talk on both sides of the issue, but I don’t think that there’s anything that could say that more sleep is going to be bad for a kid’s psyche,” said parent Jacob Brier.

But others aren’t so sure it’s the right move.

“I understand the science but there is also some discipline that has to come in later on in life,” said parent Grace Murphy. “You know, we have to get up at some point in time, and we all have a schedule that we have to follow.”

Currently, the high school students start around 7:50 in the morning, and the elementary students around 8:40.

Now starting in the fall, the times will be flipped, giving the schedules about a 50 minute difference, which has students worried about after school activities.

“If the start times are getting pushed back then so will the dismissal times, and we won’t have a lot of times for the clubs and sports that we actually are interested in and want to do,” said Freshman student Grace Zwolinski.

But many parents at Thursday’s meeting say – they are all for it.

“The sciences indicate that kids are healthier in terms of their mental health, their athletic performance, academic performance, SAT scores, right down the line,” said parent Carl Kustell. “So we’re really supportive of it.”

Other districts have implemented the new start times and been successful, though not in Newport which reversed course last year.

Superintendent Messore said Thursday that every district is different, and the issues Newport had won’t necessarily apply to Barrington.

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