Sleep/School Start Time

Joint State Commission Study: Sleep Deprivation in Adolescents: The Case for Delaying Secondary School Start Times


PASD Board of School Directors Vote

For the past 18 months, a dedicated group of parents, teachers, students, staff, board members, and administrators has been researching the effects of sleep/school start times on our children.  
 
Last night the PASD Board of School Directors voted to change the school start times for the 2019-2020 school year.
 
Start times for all buildings will be pushed back by approximately 30-45 minutes.  The Administration will work on the specific times and details over the next couple of months, and we will keep you informed as those decisions are made.
 
We want to sincerely thank the members of the Sleep/School Start Time Committee, all of you who came to one of the three Forums we held, those who spoke at the Board meeting(s), or called/emailed to share your thoughts, both pro and con.  Your thoughts and input were vital in this process.
 
We recognize this is an emotional issue for our community.  While many will applaud this decision, we know there are probably an equal number who are disappointed.  As a District, we will make every effort to continue to address your questions and concerns as we work together for our children.

Valuable Information

Communication 01-31-19
2019-20 School Start Implementation Timeline

Over the next 8 months, the Board of School Directors and the Phoenixville Area School District’s Administrative team are committed to keeping the school community informed regarding the implementation plan for the new school start times.  Below is a graphic implementation timeline.  Some of the guiding parameters and highlights from the plan are below:

• Complete (see page to the left titled 2019-2020 Operational Times) By the end of February 2019, the school schedules for the 2019-20 school year will be published.  The start of the MS/HS school day (Homeroom/1st period) will be no earlier than 8:05 AM.  The end of the elementary school day will be as early as possible and hopefully no later than 4:00 PM

• By the end of March 2019, the extra-curricular schedules for the 2019-20 school year will be published

• By the end of April, we will communicate the bus routes out to the parents.  While we know that the times will change somewhat, (students being added and subtracted from the buses due to enrollment), we believe we will be able to tell parents within 10 to 15 minutes of when their child(ren) will picked up in the morning and arrive home in the afternoon.  We do have additional funds in the proposed budget to assist with this process and we are listening to new ideas, including having a central drop point for families in Schuylkill and EP Townships to pick up their children at the end of the day, if they so wish

• We recognize that the present school schedule is not ideal for all families and that most likely the new schedule will not be ideal for all families.  We will continue to work with the community to try to address the identified needs.  Over the next few months, we will ask the community for their feedback and will incorporate what we can into the new plans.

Please see the document below titled 01-31-19 Start Times Implementation Plan for more details.

2019-2020 Proposed Operational Times

Office Hours:
District Administrative Offices - 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
Secondary Main Offices - 7:15 am - 3:45 pm
Elementary Main Offices - 8:00 am - 4:30 pm

Schedules

High School Middle School  Elementary 
Student Drop-Off/Arrival
7:50 am
7:50 am
8:40 am
Student Day Begins
8:05 am
8:05 am
8:55 am
Student Day Ends
2:52 pm
2:53 pm
3:35 pm
Bus Departure
3:00 pm
3:00 pm
3:45 pm
Teacher Work Day
7:35 am - 3:05 pm
7:35 am - 3:05 pm

8:25 am - 3:55 pm


Pertinent Documents

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