School Start Times Hotly Debated At Bridgewater-Raritan Meeting

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Students and parents shared mixed opinions on the new school start times proposed for the 2026-27 Bridgewater-Raritan school year at the recent Sept. 30 BOE meeting.

Two options were previously presented to the Board of Education(BOE) on Sept. 9 to adjust school start times to help reduce bussing costs and reclaim lost instructional time. However, Option Two caused some contention among residents.

Option Two would have the middle school starting first at 7:30 a.m., followed by the high school and middle school at 8 a.m., and then the primary schools at 9:20 a.m.

On Sept. 30, multiple high school students said that having a later start time would impact after-school activities.

"The promise of more sleep is quickly erased by a now compressed, more stressful evening schedule. Students may still be functioning on the same limited rest, just rearranged in a way that feels more convenient on paper but fails in practice," said the student.

The students also surveyed 40 students at the high school who were not in favor of the proposed time change.

Sheila Marcy of Raritan said she had a friend who works at Ridge High School, which recently switched to later start times, and noted, "There is an issue with children leaving for sports."

Not everyone was in disagreement with the start times. Rachel Ruffner, who is a parent to students at Hamilton and Hillside and a teacher in Chatham who switched to a similar start time, also spoke.

"Now that I have worked in that new schedule for several years, I can confirm from firsthand experience that the concerns raised have not turned into problems, and I can further confirm that the schedule shift has been a benefit to students, families, and staff members," said Ruffner.

President of the Bridgewater-Raritan Education Association (BREA) Laura Kress said multiple parents reached out to her regarding the proposed start times.

"I understand that there are two sides to this, maybe three sides, but I don't think we should be a community divided over this. I get the feeling that it is starting to brew," said Kress. "Maybe there is some way to go back to the drawing board. And I think that might be happening. I think that would be a good thing because I think we have enough turmoil in the world right now, and we don’t need more turmoil here."

Superintendent Robert Beers noted that the proposed times are not set in stone. The district is waiting to see what the new full time kindergarten enrollment numbers are.

"Will things be adjusted? Will we take that feedback and say ‘Yes we want to get that start time closer to 9:00 if we go with option two?’ Yes, so I mean that is one of the things we share with our consultant that we can work towards. Now, does that mean it is going to happen? No. But it means it is something that we can present. That we’re working towards," said Beers.

Beers also added that new school start time scheduling will not go before the BOE for a vote since it is an operational issue. He is anticipating a decision sometime by January.

Board member Jennifer Loughran said she was in favor of the new proposals; however it was not because of studies looking at later start times and sleep. Instead, she looked at other beneficial factors to the district.

"We all know that the district has been facing budget issues and costs and rising costs. So when we are looking at decreasing enrollment and we’re looking at making things more cost-effective, this was an opportunity to look at our transportation situation, which is one of the most expensive," said Loughran. "This was an opportunity to address it. That's why I was supportive."

The new schedule would save the district an estimated $400,000 to $500,000, said Beers.

"None of us wants our students, especially our elementary children, to start the day late. Ideally, all of our children would start before 9:00. We put forth that, and hopefully, things can change," said Board Member Rebecca Hassouna. "But I think it was a worst-case scenario what we presented and hopefully it can tighten up. We know that no one wants anyone to go to school so late, but we have to do what we have to do here."

Beers warned that whichever option they decide, "someone is going to go to school later at 9:00 with triple-tier bussing. Someone is going to be in that time slot. And it's really for us to figure out who it is.

Board member Lanfan "Lucy" Li asked that the adminsitration take into account the elementary students.

"I think for younger kids, very often they wake up awake and alert for a period of time. We want to use that as the most optimal instruction time," said Li. "Then they become tired, then they become hungry, then they become distracted. I think when we consider the school start time for younger kids, we need to consider that as well."

• Previous reporting: Later Start Times For Primary, High Schools Proposed In Bridgewater-Raritan

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