TIME FOR A CHANGE? WHS teachers examine pros, cons of a later start time
October 23, 2017
(One in a series about changing the start times for Watertown schools in 2018-19)
Watertown Public Schools are considering a new plan for next year. Instead of starting school at Watertown High at 7:55 a.m. as it normally does, the town is planning to switch that time to 8:30 a.m., causing a 35-minute time change. Everything would be pushed back, which means that the school day would end at 3:05 p.m. instead of its current end time of 2:30 p.m.
Even though this may not be a major time change, it does impact a lot of the teachers who teach at WHS. While some teachers are more willing to embrace this time change, others have a different opinion on it.
James Buck, a teacher in the Social Studies department, said that is is worth trying out.
“I think it is worth experimenting with to see if it leads to better attendance,” he said. “I feel it allows children to be a little better well rested.”
Another teacher who does not have a problem with the time change is math teacher Michael Spillane.
“I don’t mind it, I don’t mind sleeping in a little bit more in the morning,” he said. “We’ll see how it plays out with elementary schools and sports. I have no problem with it since we are still here the same amount of time.”
Adam Silverberg, world languages coordinator for Watertown, is also for the new start time.
“I think the new start time would be beneficial for students,” he said. “if they can sleep a few extra hours, that’ll be great.”
Erin Piazza, a library media specialist at Watertown High School, said, ““I do think it makes sense because all the research shows that starting school so early in the morning just doesn’t make sense for teenagers. I think it seems like more schools will be moving in this direction.
“So all the concerns about sports and things will eventually be a moot point because everyone is going to be moving to this later start time anyway. I think that it is a good idea.”
Science teacher Erik Hiltunen had a similar view.
“I would say I am in favor of it,” he said. “Personally I am not a morning person so it would be easier. I am worried about having the school go later because I would be more concerned with the commute and traffic.”
It seemed that a lot of the teachers were concerned about the end time, such as Todd Robbins, a career and technical education teacher at Watertown High.
“My larger concern may have to do with the end time, because of athletics and extracurricular activities already eating into students’ evening time for studying and getting enough sleep,” he said. “I think that could be the difficult part of the time change. Perhaps in order to make this work we do start a little bit later, but we modify our schedule by adjusting lunch periods. In order to still get out somewhere between 2:30 and 2:45.”
On the other spectrum of things, Patrick Ferdinand, an instructional assistant at WHS, as well as the girls’ basketball coach, was opposed to the new start time due to the issues it brings up.
“I think that for some staff members when their child care begins that’s going to be an issue. I know that is going to be an issue for me because my daughter’s preschool starts at a certain time and it ends at a certain time,” he said. “I think that commute time will be an issue, like the later the school starts, more cars are on the road. I think that if it’s about start times, students are always going to get used to it at some point, so it’s not going to solve lateness. It might be easier in the beginning but eventually it is going to find its own time.”
Deborah Johnson, a family consumer science teacher, was also not keen toward the idea of the time change.
“It is not going to help with tardiness. It will always be the same people who get up late and show up late,” she said. “It is going to affect the students who have extracurriculars after school.”
Ms. Johnson thinks that even with the time change some students will still be in the same habit and will not be on time for school.
Elizabeth Mundy a science teacher at WHS, likes the new time change, but at the same time she doesn’t like the things it will shift.
“Personally, I know I don’t want to start later for selfish reasons,” she said. “Later it will be harder for me because of my commute. If I left to get here at 8, if I left later, it would be a worse time for travel.
“I’m not going to like getting out later because I like what time we get out since it lets me help students for a really long time. I think if we start later and end later, I’ll be in trouble, but I’m glad it’s starting later because research shows it’s better for students.”
Overall, the majority of teachers seem to be in favor of this time change. However a lot of them don’t ignore the issues with traffic and commute that it will bring up. Others just hope that it will actually be a positive impact on the students they are teaching.
–Oct. 23, 2017–
