The change in bell time to save money on transportation at Orchard Park Secondary School from 8:30 to 8:00 in September 2012 is an immediate and substantial cause for concern among students, parents and staff for numerous reasons including the effect on extracurricular activities, outside programs, part time jobs, volunteer jobs, co-op positions and safety of the students who will be walking to buses or to school in the dark. By imposing this change in start time, the board, trustees and decision makers are in direct contradiction to the board’s mandate of “All students achieving their full potential” as a study completed for the board in 2006 clearly determines that early start times for school contributes to sleep deprivation and that “there is a need for educators to be more aware of the impact of school start times and academic scheduling, and to consider sleep problems as potential factors in students who fail to achieve or who exhibit behavioral problems,”. As such this decision needs to be reversed.
We the undersigned are in opposition of this change and demand that the start time stay at 8:30 or be moved later. We feel that the academic success, physical health and mental well-being of 1,200 students is more important than the proposed savings of $150,000 and are confident that other means to save money on transportation can be found within the budget if there is true cooperation from and equitability within both boards.