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Hancock County Parents Ask: How Early is Too Early for School at Oak Glen Middle School?

On any given weekday, Cristian Fighiroae stands out in the dark on Pyramus Road to catch the school bus to Oak Glen Middle School.

At 6:50 a.m., his is the last stop before the bus heads down W.Va. 8 to drop off the Oak Glen high-schoolers at 7:10 a.m. and the middle-schoolers at 7:15 a.m. Classes at Oak Glen Middle start at 7:20 a.m.-a time that Cristian’s parents, Simion and Gabriela, have been fighting since the new Hancock County school start times were instituted in 2014.

Simon Fighiroae says having to wake his sixth-grade son up before 6 a.m. is cruel and unnecessary. “No child should be required to go to school at unsafe and unhealthy hours,” he said.

He and his wife want the district to change its middle school and high school start time to no earlier than 8 a.m. to give children more time for sleep.

“My son keeps asking me, ‘Why am I waiting here for the bus in the dark?’ I told him the truth: Because the board of education said so,” Fighiroae said in remarks to the board last month.

While the new start time was not a board decision-the decision to change from 8:45 a.m. to 7:20 a.m. was made by then-Superintendent Suzan Smith to facilitate the consolidation of middle school and high school bus routes-Fighiroae believes the board should at least revisit the policy.

“If we would start school when you suggest, these kids wouldn’t be getting home until 4:30 or 5 o’clock,” said board President Jerry Durante. “I would love to see school start at 8:45 or 8:30 and still have those kids get home at 3 o’clock. I would love to see that. Unfortunately, we can’t do that.”

The Chester couple cites studies, including one in 2014 by the American Academy of Pediatrics, that link later start times-and more sleep-with better academic performance and improved mental and physical health for school-age children. The study recommended that public school districts in the United States push back their start times for middle school and high school to 8:30 a.m. or later.

The Fighiroaes and Newell resident James Behanna have been circulating a petition in support of later start times for Hancock County. They say they have 150 signatures and hope to pressure the board into reconsidering the issue.

Behanna is more concerned about the elementary school start time. His 5-year-old granddaughter catches the bus to Allison Elementary School at 7:30 a.m., which he believes is too early.

“These kids need their sleep. You guys are robbing them of their sleep,” he told the board.

Behanna, who has a daughter and six grandchildren in Hancock County Schools, said it’s a “fight” to get his granddaughter up every morning at 6:30.

“This (practice of) getting a 5-year-old to the bus at 7:30 and two hours’ worth of homework is not right. They’re kids. They’re little children,” he said. “My 5-year-old is too little for this.”

Durante said local boards have more state and federal regulations to follow than they once did regarding total instructional time and time required for lunch, class changes and recess. He said the district can’t afford to disrupt school schedules at a time when its funding, both from the state and from local property taxes, is increasingly tenuous.

Fighiroae said he will continue speaking at board meetings.

“This is an issue I believe in,” he said, “and I will not give up until we are on the right track.”

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