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Residents urge board not to move school start times earlier
Summary
Two New London residents told the board that earlier high-school start times would worsen student sleep deprivation and create hardship for families, and raised concerns about insufficient supervision windows at middle school campuses.
Sarah Turner of New London and Bianca Sinclair of New London used the public-comment period to urge the board to abandon proposed earlier start times. Turner said current plans would leave "only 5 minutes for supervision time at the middle school campus which does not seem sufficient," and asked for clarification about magnet funding and slower administrative responses to parent inquiries.
Bianca Sinclair cited research and family impacts, saying that "teenagers need 9-9.5 hours of sleep per night" and that moving the high school start earlier (to 7:25 a.m. in discussion) would exacerbate chronic absenteeism and create earlier bus pick-ups that disadvantage students from other towns. Their remarks prompted board members to request more detailed administrative options and logistics analysis.
