Mom Creates Petition to Change School Start Time for Elementary School Students in Ridgefield

There is a petition circulating on Change.org asking Ridgefield Public School Superintendent, Karen Baldwin to change the time school starts for elementary school students in Ridgefield. Presently, school begins at 9:10 am. The petition requests an earlier start time of between 8:10 am and 8:30 am.

The petition, started by Ridgefield resident Sandy Griffin, states, "BMES, FES, and VPES have been waiting 8 years for the school start time to change. This change is long overdue. VP, BMES and FES should have moved to an earlier start time years ago. The rotation never happened. VP, BMES and FES have been treated unequally for long enough. We are now asking that all elementary schools start between the hours of 8:10-8:30."

Griffin encourages residents to express their school start time concerns to the Board of Education prior to May 22. "The BOE needs to hear our voices before a decision is made with the HS start time. Please sign and pass the petition," Griffin states in the petition.

Several parents have added comments in support of the earlier start time:

Children of VPES get home just before dark in the winter, which means no outside playtime. Throughout the year we rush, and are generally late for any after school activity. Young children's attention span is non existent in the late afternoon making homework a challenge. Family time? Maybe if we had more time in the afternoon.

My son spends hours of time at home, awake and alert, before school, and is overtired by the time he gets home. 

You can read (and sign) the petition HERE.