[0:12] good evening everyone's recovered from the long break so thank you for coming [0:20] out tonight tonight is a actually at night where we're at the start of a [0:26] process I know that the Edina community school communities gone through a process around start and end times in the past the board in the past has the [0:34] board has asked to review it again this year so we are starting out at the front [0:39] end with inviting the community in to provide some of the insights that some [0:45] of you carry related to start and end time so I'm going to go through a really quick presentation and then after after [0:53] that we're going to open it up for you to to address the address the school [0:59] board ready to start and end time so it's really a hearing or listening session whatever you want to call it but [1:04] the title is strictly at start and end time so we want to focus on your [1:10] insights and thoughts on start and end times if you want to speak to the board [1:16] there's a sheet of paper sign-up sheet you don't have to put the topic because obviously the topics turn 10 times but [1:23] just to help the the chair and myself make sure that people are heard and then come forward for the for their [1:29] presentation so I'm gonna start by talking about a little bit about where we're at in the process the the school [1:37] board process is the board in this case works closely with myself and I want to [1:43] introduce David White and Margo bulk David is the transportation director and [1:48] Margo is the director of business services and work closely with us in in [1:53] looking at all the variables that go into start and end times the the the [2:00] process really is for the board to establish start and end times that support student learning and creates efficiency and transportation that is [2:05] one of the jobs they have as a school board and then at the same time along [2:11] with us and long with David that has the knowledge behind all the variables that go into transportation walk distance [2:18] choice program stops right times optimum optimum times to engage students [2:24] intra district transfers ridership etc all there's so many different variables that play into a schedule that have an [2:31] impact either on the efficiency of the of the transportation system or on the learning and engagement of students the [2:38] school board throughout this will be monitoring the decision making process that really starts tonight with and with [2:45] your opportunity to address the board related to start and end times so they'll be monitoring this process along [2:50] with me review and posed questions about different transportation scenarios so [2:56] that's another role that they play with regards to really posing the questions [3:01] for us to look look at transportation scenarios that fit student learning as well as fits the efficiency in the [3:08] transportation so this is a proposed [3:13] schedule so we did some present some [3:19] research on November 9th in a listening session on November 27 that's tonight [3:24] and the current system efficiency and efficiency of recommended schedules week of January 16th so we're gonna have a [3:30] report to the board that talks about the efficiency of the current system then [3:36] we're going to convene a task force and that still remains to be seen how we do [3:42] that yet whether it's the task force from last year members of the task force from last year and others and begin to [3:50] review what proposals make sense and then and then there will be a recommendation for start times from the [3:57] board the task force the administration all working together to come up with a recommendation that seems to make sense [4:03] and then we would have another community input session on the recommended schedule or recommended schedules so if [4:11] there's one or two that are viable we would have the community give some input on it just asking the questions what did [4:18] we forget what are some of the things we should think about as relates to those schedules that are presented and then [4:23] the rest of the time is for the board to have work sessions on it along with the administration to talk about other to [4:30] fine-tune the decision-making and make sure that we have all the input necessary to make the decision so [4:37] this process of course is I always say is subject to change because it is a schedule so but at least it gives you a [4:44] guide as to far as far as where we're headed there's also question whether we [4:50] implement it for 1819 or 1920 that has not been decided yet so so there are [4:56] since the lot isn't theirs there's still a lot to a lot of work to be to be done and things to thought through think [5:03] through as we go through this process so tonight is really asking all of you the [5:09] question what are we missing what else should we pursue what questions do you have regarding [5:14] start end times will be cataloging the questions so Susan Tenace and Margo myself will be [5:20] cataloging questions and try to put those all into some sort of a document [5:27] that we can respond to as we go through the evening so and then through the process between now and when they may [5:33] when the board makes the decision so the thing we asked for tonight is really for everybody to get a chance to be heard so [5:40] as with anything else just be respectful of everybody's time and applause [5:46] sometimes sometimes slows things down and also if if you want to we're going [5:56] to allow three minutes presentation I'm gonna have the chair and chair of all in Freeman go through the kind of what he [6:04] expects with regards to your presentation and then we probably will [6:09] not be answering questions tonight because that takes up time we just want to make sure everybody is heard and the [6:15] board gets a chance to listen to what your thoughts are as we begin the process of certain end times [6:20] so am I missing anything I think I think [6:25] we just don't have the chair read over the expectations you have around the [6:31] presentations thank you welcome everybody know we actually have I don't have a list of expectations we haven't [6:37] had a listening session before so we're kind of just seeing how it goes we are [6:42] going to follow some of the same rules we follow when people make public comments at a regular scheduled board [6:48] meeting so I'm going to ask that people keep their comments three minutes and by the way what we're gonna do is we'll run through every [6:53] comment that people have and if for example you say to yourself well I've got six minutes of material go three [7:00] minutes stop so we make sure we get through everybody and then you can always come back later in the evening and say I'd like to finish but we just [7:07] want to make sure everybody gets a chance to go through and provide their comments we ask that you do not make any [7:12] comments about individuals so if you have comments about individuals that those should be submitting submitted to [7:18] the superintendent and not in tonight's forum as John said we are not planning [7:24] on answering questions tonight we're going to catalogue the questions will probably create you know an FAQ that [7:30] will be available on the website so that people can everybody that everybody will have the answer to those questions I [7:35] have we have requested sign-up sheets just so we have some order to the [7:40] evening so if you have a sign-up sheet that has not been given to me you can [7:46] alright and once you've gone through the sign-up sheet yep that would be great I [7:56] think we're recording yeah I didn't reading me do taped of course audio tape [8:02] - yeah all right before you start one thing I want to stress with this is that whenever it's as far as being a [8:09] superintendent start and end times I know who has had a history in Edina but [8:15] it's it's something that decision like this is not just made by a board it's [8:21] not just made by the administration and it's not just me by the community it really has to be partnership of all of us working together and I really hope [8:27] that that and that's the spirit I come to this for this study about it's an important decision and in it it stages [8:36] the day for a child the same time it really impacts the efficiency of [8:41] transportation and spending the dollars wisely so it's really like a combined [8:46] community event if you will community decision the spirit is to keep everybody [8:52] engaged in it so thank you for being here tonight so I'm gonna turn over to the chair all right thank you are called [8:59] muffin grab the microphone you're welcome to sit down and the first person is Brooke alik Oh welcome good evening thank you [9:14] very much for the opportunity to speak my name is Brook Ola Co I'm the parent of two students at Normandale Elementary [9:19] and I'm here wearing two hats one representing the Edina Swim Club and the Greater youth sports community that [9:25] utilizes the middle school facilities and then the second as a parent in a household where both parents work outside the home so wearing my first hat [9:33] we as the you Dinah swim club utilize Valley View and south view as two of our three primary pools we have over 300 [9:40] swimmers the vast majority of whom live in Edina over seventy five of those swimmers are ages eight and younger and [9:46] we also have many many in the nine ten eleven age range as well we currently use the pools from about six o'clock to [9:52] 8:30 each night and under a significantly later middle school start time we would not be able to access [9:59] those pools before 7:30 p.m. so we would either not be able to serve as many students in our programs or we would be [10:05] asking kindergartners and first-graders to be leaving the pools at 9:15 9:30 at night which if we're looking at bedtimes [10:11] and sleep patterns is you know probably not an optimal bedtime for it for the younger and either I can't speak to [10:16] sports like basketball and volleyball but I'm going to assume that they would face similar challenges with their younger students not having access to [10:22] facilities until much later in the evening wearing my hat as a parent of a [10:27] dual career family a later middle school start time also poses significant challenges so right now with the current [10:34] schedule we would be able to put our children on the bus before we left for work with a 9:00 or 9:30 start time we [10:40] would either be forced to leave them at home unsupervised for a couple of hours and I can only tell you how many mornings middle schoolers are likely to [10:47] oversleep or get engrossed in x-box and miss the bus and have to figure out how they're gonna get to school or we're [10:53] gonna be having to drop our children at a before school program at the middle school at about the time that they're [10:59] currently leaving for school which would then make them unable to take advantage of those later start times and those [11:05] later sleep times and actually prolong their day significantly so I know that all ages have pros and cons to the [11:11] different start times but I think middle schoolers in particular are a group that it may in many cases not be old enough [11:17] to supervise them for a couple of hours in the morning or whoo if we if we believe they need that [11:22] extra time to sleep in the morning may not be getting it in those families where there isn't someone who can stay home with them so thank you very much [11:29] for the opportunity all right thank you very much next is Stacy's solo welcome [11:40] good evening I first wanted to say that I appreciate the level of detail I think [11:47] that I'm seeing this time around in terms of the planning of this whole process and I'm very encouraged to see I [11:54] think a lot of the holes that at least I personally felt were there in the [12:00] planning process last time through the planning documents that I've looked at seem to really the the data that we need [12:08] to collect I think is is out there and so I'm really looking forward to seeing what the Transportation Study says in [12:14] January and I appreciate the the time that you'll are taking to listen proactively now and then later in the [12:21] process because I think that'll be really important in gaining the community buy-in for any changes that [12:26] might occur so definitely thank you for that one area that I think just based on [12:35] my experience as a creek valley parent from the last time around was just [12:41] keeping in mind the equity between the elementary schools and so regardless of [12:47] how the times shake out in the end I think that all elementary schools need to be within two tiers of each other I [12:53] think putting one elementary school or even half the elementary schools in Tier [12:59] one and the other half in Tier three it just on its face is not going to be equitable especially as we're looking [13:04] through all these sleep studies and that may have some conflicting or inconclusive results putting those [13:13] kiddos that are in the same grades you know potentially nearly two hours apart I think on its face just as inequitable [13:19] so as we're looking through this process I would encourage you to really think about the equity that was one thing in [13:25] the planning document that I didn't really see addressed specifically and then just generally I mean I think that [13:32] it's difficult to balance the operational efficiency with what's best for learning obviously that's the huge [13:37] challenge here I personally think that getting everybody between eight and nine would go a long way to smoothing things [13:46] over and I think people would feel pretty good about that obviously that's a challenge but I think the goal should really be to squeeze those times as much [13:52] as possible to get as close to that as possible regardless of whether middle school and elementary school get flipped or some [13:59] some other some other solution is brought forward so those would be my [14:05] general ideas thank you thank you [14:10] Heather English [14:21] welcome sorry I have a little bit of a cold I'm Heather English I'm here to [14:29] represent the Early Learning Center I'm the PTO president and I am just going to [14:34] ask you guys to consider your earliest learners as you make this decision we provide by state we're required to [14:41] provide transportation to our students needing special education services which is over a hundred students right now [14:48] with another eighty or so waiting for evaluation so that number could greatly [14:54] increase currently that a lot of our transportation is outsourced to Adam [14:59] service I believe we also provided vien transportation to some of our families as well so consider that as you're [15:06] making your decision also the start to times of elementary schools often impact [15:12] our adult that go to the Early Learning Center for their parenting along with [15:17] their preschooler so when our nine o'clock classes start we're arriving at 9:30 after we've gotten our elementary [15:24] school off thus missing that important play piece with our children and the [15:29] opportunity to engage with our teachers and have our turn to learn as well so [15:35] that's really all I have to address at this time and thank you guys for including us in the process thank you [15:46] Terry young [15:58] hi thank you welcome have a cold as well I'm here just as a parent I have a [16:04] preschooler here at the Early Learning Center that will be a kindergartner at Highlands next year and a current first grader at Islands as well I want to say [16:11] first of all that if we decided to have schools start at midnight we would keep going to Highlands because we love it [16:18] that much I'm so really just get that out there no thanks I just want to say [16:27] that in my own household right now the normal scenario is that we are ready for school and eager to start learning at [16:32] about 7:15 7:30 every day and then we wait another hour and a half for the bus [16:38] to come and we wait another half hour after that for school to start and by the time we sit down to start our day [16:44] we've been ready to go for hours and hours and hours it's not working for us super well right now my kids go to bed [16:50] at 7:30 which is from what I've read a very appropriate time for that age group which means when my son gets home at [16:56] 4:30 for 48 we have very limited family [17:02] time in the evening which is our mornings in or evenings right now it's really rough with the current Elementary [17:10] schedule because we're such early risers I have looked into before school of options my son did run Club which was [17:15] great for him but that was a few weeks and it's over and we looked into [17:21] swimming lessons at the YMCA they do not start early enough so that was another option no go I coached the LEGO Club [17:27] that's gonna be starting in January I looked at could we meet at the library before school they don't open till 9:00 [17:34] so that's not an option so you know I've been trying to find ways to use that [17:39] time when we're ready to go and because we can't get into the school and there's not a lot in the community it's just [17:45] kind of wasted time for us it's hard to say how other people would adjust to a [17:51] shifted schedule for elementary students I could say that we have tried to shift sleep times in our house because of the [17:56] way the current schedule is and it's been unsuccessful so I think when people [18:02] say my kid could never do it that's a hard thing for me to hear because you really don't know but I will say that we [18:08] did try and it hasn't worked so far so that's my input I really hope that we can find a [18:13] way to at least push the elementary start time a little bit earlier I'm not saying you need to do a lot but I hope [18:18] that we can compromise in a way that meets the needs of a lot of people so thank you thank you [18:28] next is Miranda do you have a written [18:44] welcome did you say your child is in [19:28] school we have been taught to use evidence based reasoning to support our choices and decisions sorry we have been [19:35] given evidence that supports later start times for adolescents for better academic social and psychological health [19:42] and learning since school is a place of learning we should start later while we're [19:50] teaching students evidence-based reading reasoning the board should use it to [19:56] inform their decisions making start times later for middle and high school [20:03] students right thank you thank you Matt Ambrose [20:19] welcome twisting this tonight this the right one hi [20:25] so I also I'm kind of wearing two hats or playing two roles tonight my first is [20:31] a professional role as a pediatrician I think the there's a strong body of [20:37] evidence including a strong statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics that supports the delayed school start [20:45] times in adolescents starting around the onset of puberty because their sleep cycles shift back by up to two hours and [20:52] based on recommendations for eight and a half to nine and a half hours of sleep in the typical sleep time of 11:00 to [20:58] midnight for a three n'ajjer or sir for a tweenager and a teenager a later start [21:05] time would be more in keeping with that formal recommendation and the potential [21:10] benefits from less chronic sleep loss and adolescents include decreased [21:16] pediatric obesity decreased rates of depression improve school performance increased standardized test scoring etc [21:23] so I think there's a strong body of scientific evidence to support those later start times for the older children the second role that I wear is as a [21:29] parent I have first grader here at Normandale who also is awake and ready [21:36] to go at 5:45 a.m. chronically and similarly goes to sleep at an early time [21:43] and later start times would be a significant challenge for us to participate as a family I'm in a [21:50] two-parent working family but also would be quite disruptive for our going to [21:56] sleep as well as awakening so I urge you to consider the body of evidence behind [22:03] school start times in your decision making thank you for posting this thank you [22:12] Brian bass welcome [22:22] good evening thank you for the opportunity to speak I have two roles the first role as a parent I have a [22:29] creek valley 2nd grader and a seventh grade student at Valley View middle school we have great appreciation for [22:38] the staff at both campuses and have really had a wonderful experience my [22:43] elementary student certainly matches what the previous two folks have said in [22:49] terms of 7:15 she's ready to go she's ready to learn she's reading she's exploring she's her mind is awake and so [22:56] for us the earlier start time for elementary is something that we would [23:02] really be looking forward to for our our elementary age student our middle schooler is classic in alignment with [23:10] the research she she literally when we took her in at night and we and we say [23:15] our prayers and we process the day I mean that that can go we can start at 8:45 and that can go in till 9:45 she's [23:24] still her brain is still still going and as much as we try to have her asleep by 9:00 and it's just I mean so and 8 [23:31] o'clock is is probably like the beginning of what would be an appropriate time for her I mean in terms [23:39] of her specific the way it's manifesting her puberty is manifesting itself in [23:45] terms of what our brain is is doing now so so we we I am also an educational [23:51] professional I am a pre-k through 8th grade principal in st. Paul public schools we did just go through the whole [23:59] school start times process and a process [24:04] that tried to be as transparent as you are trying to be transparent and have as much community input from as many [24:11] stakeholders as possible so you're certainly we applaud applaud your effort [24:16] at that process regardless of the circumstances surrounding the last attempt but one of the things that we [24:24] are doing that I thought was a really genius idea of our superintendent was to really make sure that we gave people [24:30] plenty of time that once the decision was made and we shifted times to reflect [24:35] the research and honor the research as was spoken before to give folks plenty [24:41] of time and in our case he gave over a school year a full school year for families to make [24:47] those adjustments and to make those changes as families are committed to [24:52] many different activities especially here in Edina I mean we have so many families accessing so many different things in the evenings and so that would [24:59] be a pretty incredible thing to have to wrestle with and grapple with if it's I [25:05] don't I don't I mean if it's gonna happen on March 19th I think was when the vote would happen I'm not sure that that's there's a whole lot of time there [25:11] if that was going to start in the fall so I would I would invite you to consider you know how far out it should [25:18] be before it starts so and I'm excited that we're back at the table and we're [25:23] continuing to fight to get this right and I really hope even if it doesn't work for my current middle schooler that [25:29] that there is hope for the second one coming along so thank you thank you [25:36] so those are the only people that signed up are there other people that would like to speak and we can kind of go in a [25:42] come on up yes sorry so when [25:55] Jil diedring hi Jill teetering and I have a kindergartner at countryside and [26:02] a third-grader countryside and I mean I think in the end we're not Camille please everybody including my own household I did a little informal poll [26:09] at my house tonight at dinner and my third grader wants a 7:45 star and thinks everybody should have a flashlight and require everybody and me [26:15] Dinah to leave a light on for everyone and my kindergartner requested that he gets more sleep when he woke up at 8:10 [26:21] today so I just asked that the decision be researched based I really feel like [26:26] the data lacked last year for the K through 2 crowd I think it was there for 3 through 5 but that's my concern for [26:33] with my younger one being the one who is a sleeping and child that I just want to see data to support the decision I'm [26:40] also concerned about it being drastic going from 9 4925 until 7:45 I mean that seems like an extreme change I also like [26:48] you to consider evening activities so if that's something that you feel is important my daughter is on a swim team and the practices are later so we may [26:55] have to make a decision that we quit those activities in order for her to get to school I personally feel like schools more important activities but I also [27:02] feel like having a well-rounded child is important also so just please take that into consideration and then as a side [27:08] note if school does stay at the later start time as a working parent sometimes [27:15] my kids need to be to school 15 minutes before school starts and if there could be a prorated child care it's just it's [27:22] hard to think to pay the full I don't know if it's 2 or 3 our amount just for 15 minutes of care so if that could be [27:27] taken into consideration thank you thank you we're now taking volunteers who [27:35] would just would like to come up and speak Andrea are you not that I know who [27:41] you are Angela sorry yes please [27:51] good evening my name is Angela McGarvey and I wasn't planning on speaking but I [27:58] spoke at the last one so I'm just going to kind of I was just kind of sitting back taking notes so I probably am [28:04] unique because I have kids at all different schools so I have a second grader at Creek Valley I have a seventh [28:11] grader at Valley View a ninth grader at the high school in a junior at the high school so I kind of span all different [28:18] start times I'm 7:45 to 9:25 doesn't bother me at all but one of the staff you things that [28:26] I would really encourage you to all look at and first of all I appreciate that you are taking another look is I think [28:32] I'm echoing possibly Stacie's sentiments saying that we cannot silo the schools [28:38] we are a community and we've got to think about all of these learners we just cannot put them in different silos [28:44] it's completely inequitable and just not the right way to support our community [28:49] I'd like us to be very thoughtful about the process and keep all learners in [28:54] mind I do not think that we should make a decision based on a specific sporting [29:00] group it's just not the way to do it it just wouldn't be fair you've got hockey players you got basketball you got swimming all [29:07] different kids and all different activities you've got kids in choir kids in band it we just can't make the [29:13] decision based on one specific group and I also want to point out that not all [29:19] learners are up at 6:00 a.m. they're not that's just simply not true some of these families that might be the case [29:26] for my family that's not the case none of my young Elementary students were up ready to go at 7:30 in the morning [29:32] so not all kids are like that and of course I know it depends on the family dynamics the younger kids don't have a [29:38] lot going on and then all of a sudden third fourth fifth grade hits and they do have stuff going on so they tend to sleep in a little bit later and then in [29:46] closing I guess the most important piece is the safety piece for me a number one [29:52] above all else is the safety piece and making sure that all kids are safe and depending on when we have start times [29:58] the traffic that you need to consider around the west side of Edina with the Dyna high school and Valley [30:03] middle school and Creek Valley so safety we'd be number one for me with the [30:10] things you know with daylight savings and buses and student drivers and then I [30:16] just want to say that I do support other people saying that we should really look [30:21] at the data and make sure that the data does support the final decision I know it will be tough to balance all of us [30:27] but somehow if we can rely on the data I think that would be the best way to go [30:32] about it in the most efficient way thank you thank you [30:38] is there anybody else who would like to speak yes yes if you can now take [30:51] another three minutes if you wish pre-k [31:00] through 8 dual campus in st. Paul yep so again dr. Brian bass you know the the [31:07] after-school implications I think are interesting and unique and varied however the current system is flawed the [31:15] current system has kids out of practices out of gyms at 9:00 and 9:30 so I'm [31:20] hearing some folks expressed that there are implications to if we have our earlier start time or a later start time [31:26] that we won't have access or whatever we're struggling to have access now and [31:32] you know my 7th grader whose brain doesn't shut off it's out sinnamon 10:30 she's at practice right until 9:00 or [31:38] 9:30 for Edina basketball association right now and so by the time she gets home showers and you know does her [31:46] whatever her nighttime routine I mean it's it's 10:30 11 o'clock right and if that's one or two nights a week that's [31:53] currently flawed so I think I think there needs to be some balanced perspectives around how we're looking at [31:59] the afterschool pieces and making sure that the academic piece is first and [32:06] foremost at front and center in terms of this decision I'm trying to think if [32:12] there was anything else related to the after-school piece the other thing that I just would offer [32:18] as a person of color living in Edina that the current system advantages certain students the stool will start [32:24] times and it disadvantages other students and so for example if you're a [32:30] student who's riding in from Minneapolis or if you're coming from another district because you are trying to [32:35] invest in education and make sure that you get access to a high-quality education if you're on that school bus for middle school at five thirty five [32:42] forty to get here I mean is that really fair by the time they get to school and they're starting their day that [32:49] they've that they've I mean so I don't know particulate in that well or not but I think the point here is that we [32:56] have an opportunity to be in better alignment with the research and certainly there is going to be some hurdles that are going to have to be [33:02] adjusted and adapted we're going to have to adapt as a community but we're a great community and we're capable of [33:08] adjusting and adapting and making this work for all thank you thank you again [33:14] any other individuals that would like to yes sir welcome if you could give us [33:25] your name please hi I am Albert C I'm a [33:32] parent here in Edina and I have a 5th grader at Cornelia and a seventh grader [33:39] at South you and I wasn't planning on saying anything but I I guess I I think [33:44] we all would acknowledge this is an extremely complex issue with by my [33:50] account probably at least six or seven different factors major factors at play and and I'd like somebody else said I [33:57] don't think we're going to to please everybody for certain we I think we all understand that and my my request is for [34:04] I don't we call it transparency but for a very strong communication to the community about what those factors are [34:11] that are being considered and a clear way if is through the web or through [34:16] these forms to be able to somehow clearly articulate what the issues are [34:23] for whether it's transportation whether it's the research about start times and poor [34:28] whatever those might be because it's just really hard to keep track of of it [34:34] and we all come with our own you know narrow perspective from our own whether it's from our sports teams or from our [34:40] kids or whatever whatever I be so I guess my the bottom line for me is to be [34:45] very thoughtful about communicating what those factors are because at the end of all this I think a lot of people will [34:52] hopefully be more understanding if they have a better better understanding of [34:58] what was considered into the final decisions whether they're gonna be happy with them or not you know it's it's [35:04] going to matter a lot more that's gonna be a better result if we understand what [35:09] are the issues so thank you thank you very much anyone else [35:16] so if you have comments or if you know people and anybody was watching this video any comments you just send an [35:23] email just to the school but I would love to say send it to Regina but just send an email to the Dinah School Board [35:29] it will go to every one of us and we do read all the emails and so if you forgot to say something tonight send us a [35:35] follow up email if you know somebody couldn't attend follow up email all which will be part of the process and I [35:43] think that's it thank you very much