According to officials, a last-minute proposal to move the start times for all grade levels in Atlantic County is being considered.
Amid nationwide worries about children, especially adolescents, not getting enough sleep, Pleasantville Public Schools is the most recent school district in New Jersey to consider a later start time.
There are four elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school in the district.
Fox 29 Philadelphia reports that the plan would change Pleasantville High School’s reporting time from 7:45 a.m. to 8 a.m.
Instead of arriving at the Pleasantville Middle School at 8:05 a.m., students would arrive by 8:30 a.m. According to the report, sessions at the four elementary schools would start at 9 a.m. rather than 8:50 a.m.
On August 12, the school board met and considered the idea.
The plan did not sit well with some parents.
Have you considered the parents who must leave for work in the morning? According to a video of the meeting, a parent was asked.
The proposal was not completed, but Marilyn Martinez, the Pleasantville superintendent, stated that she backed it.
Martinez stated during the meeting that it would help our high school students maybe get at school on time and have the chance to start their classes in a way that engages them much more productively.
A request for comment last week was not immediately answered by Martinez.
In New Jersey, there is no statewide standard for the start times of public schools. Generally speaking, high schools start earlier than elementary and middle schools.
Beginning in September 2022, Chatham High School in Morris County shifted its start time from 7:40 a.m. to 8:20 a.m. Around that time, a bill that would have made 8:30 a.m. the earliest start time permitted statewide was proposed in the New Jersey Legislature.
According to a 2023 Fairleigh Dickinson University study, 55% of respondents favored the idea, which has not been signed into law.
The next meeting of the Pleasantville school board is scheduled for August 26. The commencement of classes is set for September 4.
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You can contact Rob Jennings at [email protected].
