To the Editor:

I am writing in response to the letter to the editor of August 8 on the Newtown school start decision ["Truth and Perspective on School Start Time Decision"]. As a parent of two children in the Newtown school system, I have followed the Newtown Board of Education's studies of appropriate school start times since work began in the fall of 2016.

Throughout this process I was impressed with the level of care that the board took to solicit input from the community, parents, medical experts, educators, and students. I was therefore surprised by the author's assertion that, due to a few scheduling conflicts and correspondence from a small minority of parents, that the board had somehow been derelict in its duties or guilty of favoring one group of students over another.

In reality, the board carefully investigated the impact of Newtown's abnormally early school start times (which had been earlier than 90 percent of high schools in the nation according to the US Department of Education) on teen health and academic success. The board's findings, supported by research from the CDC, medical experts and leading universities, showed a clear link between very early start times and negative effects on teen learning and health. These concerns were mirrored in the community, where an overwhelming majority of parents responded to the board's School Start Time Survey citing the impact of teen sleep deprivation as their single largest concern regarding school start times. The board then set out to remedy this situation under a variety of difficult budgetary and scheduling constraints.

To claim, by needing to adjust the start time of an after school activity by 15 minutes, or rumormongering that the Reed ski program may need to be canceled, that the board failed to act in the interests of all students, is not only unjust, but also completely inaccurate. Acting in the best interests of all students is precisely what the board did. All of Newtown's teens and adolescents will share in the benefit of a later start time. Some families will undoubtedly face adjustments, my own included, however, if 90 percent of communities in America can start school a little bit later to assist in their children's development, why can't we? I believe that Newtown is capable of that and I commend our Board of Education in helping us to move down that path.

Timothy Jackson

4 Willow Brook Lane, Newtown         August 15, 2017