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Madison, Unlike Guilford, Not Looking at Starting School Day Later

Madison School Superintendent Thomas Scarice believes the issue of whether high school age kids are getting enough sleep has more to do with than just what time classes start each morning.

Scarice has been an interested observer in the ongoing discussion in the neighboring town of Guilford, which held a meeting with parents on January 7

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, to talk about the tough issue of possibility of changing school start times.

In Guilford, educators and other medical professionals cite recent studies which almost unanimously state that students, especially older ones, are not getting enough sleep – and their educational and inter-personal skills are suffering because of it.

More than 100 administrators, educators, parents, medical professionals and students jammed the Adams School in Guilford on January 7th, to give their opinion about the topic in front of the Board of Education and School Superintendent Paul Freeman.

Scarice said while he understands that the issue of how much sleep high school children gets has become a topical matter of discussion, to him, it is a bigger than that.

“To me,’’ he said, “you have to look at what’s on a 15-year-old child’s plate. It’s not just how much sleep they are getting. It is how much homework they have, how much of a balanced life they are able to lead, how much anxiety and pressures they face.’’