0684-Radi0

0684-Radi0: School Start Times in New Canaan

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This week on 0684-Radi0, our free weekly podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we talk to Karen Willett, a creator and leader of Healthy School Start Times New Canaan, about the group’s formation and mission, and its assessment of where things stand now with respect to the start times of New Canaan Public Schools. This installment of 0684-Radi0 is sponsored by Ally-Bally-Bee, a gift and home store with high quality and on trend handcrafted goods and fine art. Located on Elm Street in the heart of downtown New Canaan, Ally-Bally-Bee will host a trunk show on Friday, May 3rd for Hip V Modern Vintage Jewelry. There will be discounts and a raffle for a vintage piece, so be sure to stop by from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Here are some recent past episodes of 0684-Radi0:

News

Letter: Last Week’s School Start Times Survey Lacked Context

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On April 19, New Canaan parents and students were asked by New Canaan Schools Superintendent Dr. Bryan Luizzi to take an unannounced School Start Times Survey. Many adults and children who attempted to respond to the survey found it to be confusing, especially the parents of Saxe students. Furthermore, the survey was conducted before the district made any effort to inform parents about the important impact that school start times have on student health. Thus, many parents and students felt that they did not have enough knowledge of the issue to answer the questions in an informed way. Thanks to the New Canaan League of Women Voters, there is a great opportunity next week for the community to learn more about why the district is evaluating school start times: because decades of research has shown that a 7:30 a.m. start is detrimental to student health; it is harmful to such a degree that every major medical organization in the country has recommended that middle and high schools start at 8:30 a.m. or later. Parents, students and others in the community are invited to a panel discussion on adolescent sleep on May 3 at 7 p.m. in NCHS Wagner Room.

News

Message to Board of Ed: Local Pediatricians Support Later School Start Times

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The medical professionals at a well-established pediatric practice in New Canaan support efforts to re-examine start times in the school district and have advocated for starting later in the morning, according to information presented Monday night to the Board of Education. The four doctors at New Canaan Pediatrics LLC told the school board said that communities with later start times “have shown increased academic performance, reported decreased mood disorders and experienced significantly reduced automobile accident rates in teens,” according to a letter that a local parent advocating for later start times read out at the group’s regular meeting. Evidence in support of later school start times “includes both the unique biologic needs of adolescents and the demonstrable health and safety benefits realized by communities that have later start times,” according to the letter, read by Karen Willett. “In our practice we clearly see a trend of teenagers from neighboring communities with later start times reporting more sleep than those from communities, like New Canaan, that have earlier start times. We understand that the practical hurdles to changing existing start times are significant but the compelling benefit to our children and the community in general makes the change to a later start time for middle school and high school students worth it.

News

Parents Advocate for Later School Start Times Before Board of Ed

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Citing multiple medical organizations that say sleep deprivation causes a slew of health problems in children and adolescents, parents on Monday night told district officials that they’re eager to weigh in on an open question, now facing New Canaan Public Schools, about whether to start later in the morning. Karen Willett, a parent of 11- and 6-year-old boys at Saxe Middle School and West School, told members of the Board of Education at their regular meeting that the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the CDC have all issued policy statements “about the negative impact of early start times on student mental and physical health.”

“We realize that the decision on start times cannot be made in a vacuum,” Willett said at the meeting, held in the Wagner Room at New Canaan High School

“As in every other district that has successfully changed start times, there are cost complications and logistical issues to be resolved. However, as we go through the process of addressing the difficulties, let’s also stay focused on the reason we are addressing this topic in the first place. Because that extra hour of sleep every day will help improve the mental and physical health of thousands of our children. In one of his budget presentations, [Superintendent of Schools] Dr. [Bryan] Luizzi said he often gets questions during the budgeting cycle from the finance people—and I’m paraphrasing here—‘What expenses can be deferred?’ and ‘What can be done later?’ and his response in regard to the student-impacting expenses, if we know a program is needed, we owe it to the current cohort of children to implement as soon as possible, because they will not be able to benefit from it if we defer it.

Around Town

After Next Weekend’s New Canaan Library Book Sale, Longstanding Event Likely To Be Discontinued

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After more than three decades, New Canaan Library’s book sale likely will be suspended indefinitely following next week’s installment, as no one has stepped in to oversee and operate the entirely volunteer-run, twice-yearly event, officials say. The book sale will run June 12 to 14 (next weekend), and after that it likely will be discontinued, New Canaan Libarry Director Lisa Oldham said. “Essentially, if nobody steps up in the next couple of weeks, we will probably have to cancel it,” she said. The book sale, named for longtime volunteer John Randolph, has been operating for more than 30 years, officials say, and each installment brings in about $13,000. The sale itself—the result of a donated book collection that builds up every six months—is a “huge logistical exercise” that has been run expertly and with innovation for the past two years by New Canaan resident Karen Willett, Oldham said.