Boston Public Schools Reverses Decision To Change Start Times

Kristian McLean Loewen protests earlier start times at the Boston School Committee meeting earlier this month.

Bianca Vázquez Toness is the Managing Editor and Correspondent for K-12 Education at WGBH Radio. She has covered everything from technology to immigration to presidential elections, but keeps coming back to stories about kids and schools. She's worked for Minnesota Public Radio, WBUR and Bloomberg News. She was a 2016-2017 Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.

Tristan Cimini is a former producer for WGBH News’ K-12 Education Desk. She produces the School Desk Diaries and contributes reporting to WGBH’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition. Prior to coming to WGBH, Cimini worked with WNYC, WBUR, and the New England Center for Investigative Reporting. She was born and raised in Pittsburgh and graduated from Oberlin College.

December 22, 2017

Updated July 31, 2023

Boston Public Schools will scrap a plan to change school start times next year.

The plan was initially intended to help high school students get more sleep because research shows sleep can improve brain functioning and lead to higher test scores.To do this, school officials said they had to shift elementary class times earlier to keep transportation costs in check.

Parents protested the changes and emphasized that earlier dismissal times for younger students would shift the financial burden of after school programs to families.

The district announced today that they will shelve the plan after hearing that the shifts “caused a more significant disruption to family schedules than we intended,” Superintendent Tommy Chang wrote in a letter to families today. Although no changes will take place next year, Boston Public Schools officials still plan to consider schedule alterations in future years.

Our coverage of K-12 education is made possible with support from the Nellie Mae Education Foundation.

Boston Public Schools Reverses Decision To Change Start Times

More Education

Holocaust studies center administrator resigns from Clark University

Mass. residents support legalizing teacher strikes, new poll finds

Harvard reinstates testing requirement for admissions

Teaching disability history in schools is 'long overdue,' advocates say