Forum on School Start Times Set for Tuesday

  In the spring of 2009 a committee of parents and staff members began discussing the merits of changing the high school start time at all Dearborn public high schools from the current 7:20am to a later time. To assist the committee in gathering additional input on this topic they are inviting parents, students, staff, and community members to a meeting Tuesday from 6:00-8:00pm at the Administrative Service Center, 18700 Audette, Dearborn.
  It’s important for all parents to take note of this discussion because any change at the high school level will most likely impact the middle and elementary grades as well. In order for those attending the meeting to see how changing one time impacts the other grade levels, different examples of possible start times will be shared for discussion purposes only. The committee will collect feedback, ideas and suggestions so they can determine an overall sense of how the community feels about changing high school start times. Members of the committee have also attended several PTSA meetings over the past month to gain further insight from parents on this topic.
  In the fall, an informal on-line survey was done to help the committee make a decision on whether or not a later high school start time was a topic of interest in the community. Sixty percent of those responding to the survey were in favor of some type of change in the start time, even if it resulted in changes at other levels. Any proposal developed by the committee would be shared with the community for further public comment before any formal action is taken.