Start Time Task Force - Communications

Communications

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Email Correspondence to Jeffco Schools Start Time Task Force

March 4, 2020

“We ought to...keep [later start times] on the table and pursue.”

- Brad Rupert, Jeffco School Board

February 5th Study Session Results

The Board of Education agreed - addressing Jeffco Schools start times is a priority that needs a successful resolution that works for our District—consider that a huge win Task Force members!

However, to successfully choose and implement a plan for later start times there is a bit more work to do. The good news is that the task force has funds left over from last year to continue working with Robert Jacobus. The bonus good news is that our Jeffco Board of Education wants us to be successful so we can work with them to finally identify and implement the Jeffco Solution.

We acknowledge that the Task Force did not present a spectrum of options, including a cost neutral solution to the Board. The first round work of Rob Jacobus and School Bus Logistics gave us a baseline of what it would cost if we got everything we wanted.

Those parameters were:

- Start Middle School on or after 8:00 am

- Start High School on or after 8:30 a.m.

- Create a standard length of day/instructional hours:

Elementary School- 6.5 hours
Middle School - 7 hours
High School- 7.5 hours

- Minimum 30 minutes lunch

The cost ranged between $1.2M to $9.3M for the three scenarios we were able to develop, with ongoing costs annually.

The Jeffco Solution: TBD

There are more options to be considered. Working with School Bus Logistics and District staff the Board of Education and Superintendent Jason Glass are asking us to explore additional opportunities such as:

Can our priorities be accomplished AND be cost-neutral?
What other transportation alternatives (such as RTD) are viable?
Is there a way to make current routes more cost efficient, for example, to our Options and Alternatives schools?
What does the West area think of the current cost neutral options?
Is a 30-minute shift for the entire district a reasonable option?
(Insert other ideas from Start Times Task Force members here)

With these options fully explored then we, as a Task Force, can help the Board of Education make a final determination of what is best for Jeffco. Sound like a plan?

What’s Next?

Your Advocacy and Action is Needed

The Board of Education believes this is a problem worth solving, we have an allocation of money to pay School Bus Logistics that ends June 30th, and we have a team of District staff and a Superintendent working as our partners to find the best solution for all our schools.

We need one more thing—your voices.

Please take the time to write your individual Jeffco Board of Education representative. Thank them for their commitment to this work, let them know how early start times continue to impact your students or your community, and express to them how much you are looking forward to coming before the Board again later this Spring with a solution that works for all of Jeffco.

List of Schools to find your Jeffco School Board Rep

E-Mail Addresses for Jeffco School Board Members

We Will Meet Again

It’s been a long and winding road and we thank you for staying engaged in this work and for advocating to our Jeffco School Board that fixing start times in Jeffco is worth it for our students. We'll see you soon.

Thank you,

Katie Winner & Laura Johnson

January 28, 2020

It’s crunch time and we need your help.

Last week we called together a meeting of the Start Times Task Force to review the work of Rob Jacobus, the consultant hired by the District on our recommendation. It’s because of that meeting, and the great feedback and questions from the Task Force members that we have some major news to share that will impact what information goes to the Jeffco School Board.

Warning- this email is a bit long, but it’s important that we share with you what was discovered after the meeting last week and gain your approval on final recommendations and next steps to present to the Board of Education on February 5th.

And away we go...

Scenario #1

Middle School on or after 8:00 am

High School on or after 8:30 am

West Elementary start times stay the same as current

Final Results by Bus Terminal

North- 81 (adds 7 routes)
Central- 80 (adds 4 routes)
South- 76 (adds 8 routes)
West- 76 (adds 37 routes)

First Year Overall Cost

Number of Additional Routes = 56
Overall Additional Route Cost = $3,640,000
Number of buses needed in the Fleet to accommodate increase in routes (50) = $5,500,000
Total First Year Operational Cost = $9,140,000

Ongoing Annual Operational Cost = $3,640,000

When we shared this scenario with the group that met last Wednesday the response was, “Ugh, we can't sticker shock the Board with this number.” Upon hearing this feedback after the meeting our consultant Rob Jacobus said, “ You know there are other options for the West that won’t cost as much.” And we said, “Great- show us the details.”

Scenario #2

MS on or after 8:00 am

HS on or after 8:30 am

West ES start times change to 7:45 a.m.

Final Results by Terminal

North- 81 (adds 7 routes)
Central- 80 (adds 4 routes)
South- 76 (adds 8 routes)
West*- 39 (adds 0 routes)

* West ES bell time changes to 7:45 a.m. school start and ending at 2:15 p.m. Includes some routes dropping off ES students at school by 7:15 a.m..

Scenario #3

MS on or after 8:00 am

HS on or after 8:30 am

West ES start times change to 9:30 a.m. & 7-hour day (1/2 hr longer than current) for ES

Final Results by Terminal

North- 81 (adds 7 routes)
Central- 80 (adds 4 routes)
South- 76 (adds 8 routes)
West*- 39 (adds 0 routes)

* West ES changes to 9:30 a.m. school start and have a 7-hour school day ending at 4:30 p.m..

Scenario #2 or #3 Costs are the Same...

Implementation Costs

Number of Additional Routes = 19
Overall Additional Route Cost = $1,235,000
Number of buses needed in the Fleet to accommodate increase in routes (19) = $2,090,000
Total First Year Operational Cost = $3,325,000

Ongoing Annual Operational Cost = $1,235,000

The Unknowns

There are still a few things that need to be discussed with the Jeffco community to make solid new start times plans for each of our schools, including but not limited to:

West Area Decisions

Discuss and determine Start of Day for ES
Length of Day for ES
- Increase ES to 7 hour
- 7 hour ES/MS and 7.5 hour HS

School and Community Feedback

Before/After school child care
After school sports/activities
Student/Family jobs
Individual School Needs/requests
School Level Staff Feedback

Options/Alternative Schools Efficiency Work- Currently 34 routes at $2.2M annually

Explore other bussing options, not just one dedicated route
Transfer shuttle bus, RTD, etc.

Hooray, you've made it this far! Here's where we need your feedback...

At the end of the presentation to the board, we need to make some requests to the board and state task force next steps.

Board of Education Requests

Need commitment from Board of Education to fund a plan for changing start times in Jeffco by 2021/2022 school year.
Hire or Appoint District Staff Member to guide the process internally and externally with Start Times Task Force until implementation.
Approve additional funding to engage second round of consultant work to explore creating efficiencies with transporting current Options/Alternative School bus routes, aid in West area planning and finalize change plans in the North, Central and South areas.
Start to draft Board policy for School Start Times, Length of School Day, Recess/Lunch time, and Teacher Planning Time to protect changes once implemented.

Start Time Task Force Next Steps

Start Times Task Force creates engagement plan to share new start times options with school leadership and community members. Work with consultant to incorporate feedback and set final plans.
Start Times Task Force and Jeffco School deploy survey to gather Jeffco data on school school start and end times.
Start Times Task Force presents to School Board in May 2020 final plans, community feedback and cost analysis to make a roll out plan for changing Jeffco Schools Start Times in the 2021/2022 school year.

Are these reasonable and acceptable?

Thank you,

Katie Winner & Laura Johnson

January 14, 2020

The time has arrived! On this Task Force's recommendation, Robert Jacobus from School Bus Logistics studied what it would take to change start times in Jeffco. The Board of Education has asked for a study session on February 5th to be updated on the work of the Task Force and be presented with Rob’s findings for their review.

A special meeting of the Start Times Task force will be held to review Rob’s findings, discuss feedback, and determine information we want to convey to the Board of Education on February 5th.

Where: Jeffco Ed Center (1829 Denver West Drive) Room 3A/B

When: Wednesday January 22, 5:30pm - 7pm

Please RSVP by replying to this email

When Robert was asked to to help "reimagine time" for our schools, he was asked to look at solutions for several time-related issues, including:

planning for later school start times across all Jeffco schools in line with our Task Force recommendations
fit in more time for teacher planning
ensuring at least 30 minutes of lunch time across all grades
keeping Jeffco Schools in compliance with State rules on classroom instructional time

This promises to be a full meeting.

Thank you,

Katie Winner & Laura Johnson

November 18, 2019

As we continue to work with Rob Jacobus from School Bus Logistics we wanted to send another update. We had hoped we could bring everyone together for a meeting sooner, but we aren't there yet!

Rob is diligently working with Greg Jackson and the team and to optimize routes. There will be a very tight window between when that work is done and when we can share findings with you and then make a presentation to the school board early January. We will need your help, so thanks for your patience and please stay tuned!

Thank you,

Katie Winner & Laura Johnson

October 7, 2019

Welcome to Year 2! We hope the start of the school year is going well for you and your family. As you may know, Jeffco hired our Start Times Consultant to dig into working on the logistics and potential cost of changing start times in Jeffco.

And this is where things got interesting...

Did you know there were four different working groups in Jeffco Schools looking at issues related to start times or length of day? They were:

- Late Start Task Force: Renee Nicothodes, Todd Engels

- Start Time Task Force: Dan Cohan

- Instructional Hours: Jeremy Felker, Kristopher Schuh

- Teacher Planning Time: Renee Nicothodes, Kristopher Schuh

Seeing overlap, Kristopher Schuh brought all of the above Jeffco Team members, along with Katie and myself representing the Task Force, together for a meeting to tackle the challenge of fitting these important things (plus a minimum 30 minutes for lunch) into one day. Solving the issue from each of these aspects all at once means that we can make a lasting and sustainable change.

After that meeting, Rob said he had the necessary data and parameters to start formulating the potential logistical changes to bus routes with the preferred start times of the Task Force. Given all of these perspectives, Rob will take a couple of weeks to come out with rough draft ideas and plans.

When that data is ready, we will pull together a meeting of the Task Force to discuss.

We want to thank you for your continued engagement on this issue. Jeffco needs 42 bus drivers! They are running our transportation network to the best of their ability with the limited resources.

Please help Jeffco recruit and fill this need as it has a negative impact on our ability to deliver bus services now, and possibly in the future.

How To Be a Bus Driver in Jeffco

https://www.jeffcopublicschools.org/services/transportation/become_a_school_bus_driver

Thank you,

Katie Winner & Laura Johnson

September 26, 2019

Hurray! We hired a consultant! School Bus Logistics was selected to be the consultant to help Jeffco Schools and our Task Force go to the next level- what would it look like and what might it cost to change start times for Jeffco Schools? Robert Jacobus has started his work so please keep on the look out for an email to all current Task Force members about a meeting coming soon!

Below is Robert's introductory email that was sent out on September 17th:

Hello Start Times Task Force,

My name is Robert Jacobus and I am the CEO and Founder of School Bus Logistics, your newly hired consultant to work with the School Start Times for Jeffco Schools. I'm a professional pupil transportation consultant and I have more than 20 years of experience focused on route planning, creating efficiencies for school transportation departments, route optimization planning, fleet utilization studies and bell schedule analysis- which brings me to Jeffco and working with you all.

I’ve had a wide range of experiences working on complex routing and varying bell schedules from schools around the country and right here in Colorado. My company, School Bus Logistics, has worked on bell time analysis projects with Littleton Public Schools, Denver Public Schools, Cherry Creek and Aurora and am happy to be here at Jeffco again. Just this past summer I worked with Greg Jackson and the Jeffco transportation department on route optimization and fleet utilization to keep busses in Jeffco running strong in light of the fact that you are down 42 drivers so far this year. The bus driver shortage is not unique to Jeffco and it will be something that will factor in our work to figure out what new bus routes and start times could look like.

I have already begun to dive into the work here in Jeffco and working with Katie, Laura, Dan, Greg and the District staff. You can learn more about School Bus Logistics on our website and I’m looking forward to meeting you all soon.

- Robert Jacobus

www.schoolbuslogistics.com

August 23, 2019

We hope you had a great summer! We wanted to update you regarding the consultant, which the Jeffco School Board approved as a $70,000 budget item this June to help determine costs and logistics of implementing later start times.

Jeffco Schools recently decided to hire School Bus Logistics, who has helped them on a previous transportation project and has worked with other school districts on shifting start times. Two of SBL's clients are Denver Public Schools and Littleton Public Schools. School Bus Logistics will help us understand how changing bell times can impact routing and costs. We plan to make new recommendations, based on the consultant's work, to Dr. Jason Glass by December 15, 2019. We plan to make recommendations to the School Board by January 2020.

Katie and I will soon meet with the consultant and Jeffco Schools staff. We jotted down our expected outcomes for the consultant and we would love your feedback (please respond to this email with any thoughts): Outcomes for Start Time Consultant.

After that meeting, we will set up a Task Force meeting to discuss next steps to keep the momentum going forward.

Thanks for your help!

Katie Winner & Laura Johnson

May 8th, 2019

We hope this email finds you well and managing the last crazy days of the school year. Here’s what you need to know as we enter the summer months and the School Start Times Task Force work continues.

Late Start/Early Release and Start Times - 2 Separate Task Forces

The Start Times co-chairs met with Dan Cohan, Kristopher Schuh, and Todd Engels to understand the latest progress of the Late Start/Early Release work group.

That group, comprised of Jeffco District staff, teachers, principals and two parents was created last year as a result of Jefferson County Education Association (JCEA) negotiations with Jeffco Schools. The group’s charge was to study and develop plans for how teacher planning and collaboration time could be standardized across Jeffco.

For the 2019-2020 school year, Jeffco Schools will not be implementing a district-wide late start or early release. The hope/expectation is that principals and school communities will work with District staff to individually to assess their teacher planning and collaboration time to try and provide adequate, weekly time for both. The Late Start/Early Release Task Force is slated to present to the BOE on June 12^th about this outcome and how to work together in the future to solve the problem of providing accurate planning time during the school year.

Future Collaborative Work

The Start Times co-chairs have suggested combining these two working groups, given our joint need to study the cost and feasibility of modifying school start times. Further discussions from the Late Start/Early Release Task Force will happen during a June 12th study session.

Task Force Recommendation: Consultant

Our recommendation for hiring a consultant to study what changing start times would look like (and cost) is steps away from becoming a reality! Here’s a short summary of what the Jeffco Board of Education had to say about funding our Task Force Consultant recommendation at their May 2nd meeting:

"Please fund this with one-time dollars, now." - Amanda Stevens

"We have made commitments to our community to study this and to see this through and I suspect there is Board unanimity on that?"- Ron Mitchell

"I would be interested in funding this and taking it from reserves." - Ali Lasell

"Yay"- Susan Harmon

“Is there consensus here that we want to fund that…” - Ron Mitchell [all nod]

(Here’s the video- 5:43.12 start time- it goes on for about a min)

A Wise Investment

Dan Cohan and Karen Quanbeck drafted a budget request for $70,000 to pay for the consultant. The request states that the consultant will “do a deeper dive into the complexities, challenges, implementation needs and costs to further determine viability" of later start times.

If the Board of Education approves the Budgeting for Outcomes (BFO) request, then a Request for Proposals (RFP) will be put together and sent out to bid by consultants.

This is a serious amount of money for the Board of Education to approve in these tight budget times. As a Task Force, we need to ensure that future study of Jeffco Schools start times is a good investment, that the dollars will be used wisely, and that this expense is desired by our community. The Jeffco Board will vote their final approval on this budget request and the entire Jeffco School District Budget for the 2019-2020 school year at their June 6th meeting.

Please thank the school board for listening to, accepting, and funding our recommendation!

Thank you for your dedication to this work! If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us.

February 17th, 2019

First, we apologize for the amount of time that has elapsed since the Board of Education (BOE) Study Session on February 7th. During that time we have been in close communication with our Task Force Facilitator Dan Cohan, and Chief of Schools Primary Karen Quanbeck and Chief of Schools Secondary Kristopher Schuh to get the most accurate and up-to-date information to you about what happens next.

Study Session Notes- February 7th

Task Force co-chairs Laura Johnson and Katie Winner presented the work and final recommendations of the Start Time Task Force to the BOE on February 7^th. Pamela Gould was out of town but she was there in spirit! The full presentation and final recommendations are here on Board Docs, the official BOE site. You can also view the recorded video livestream here or read this Colorado Community Media news article about the meeting.

The BOE typically hears first-time proposals/recommendations in these study sessions and there is no vote. They often ask lots of questions, and typically request additional information from the Superintendent and District Staff. Therefore, going into the study session we did not expect the BOE to vote or approve any of our recommendations at this meeting.

It was a very positive presentation and conversation with the five Board of Education members and Superintendent Glass. We believe we helped the BOE understand the history and urgency around this issue and the year-long research and work the Task Force had completed to bring forth our three final recommendations. Board Members asked meaningful questions, both from a logistics and theoretical standpoint. Each BOE member expressed a belief that later start times for secondary students is desirable. However, each member had various questions regarding possible impacts.

Questions posed by BOE members during the study session included impact on bussing at the elementary level, after school activities, sports venues & practice schedules, research, and comparisons to other schools which have adopted later start times. One board member questioned if we could switch the high school and middle school time recommendations, starting middle at 8:30 and high school at 8:00 a.m. because middles have fewer after school activities/jobs.

Study Session Outcomes

At the end of the study session the BOE asked Dr. Glass and district staff to draft a plan for next steps. This plan includes our Recommendation #2, a budget request for the 2019 budget year for an implementation consultant and any early estimates as possible or appropriate regarding changing start times. As of this past week, a BFO (Budgeting For Outcomes) request has been written and submitted to the District Budget Office for the implementation consultant. This BFO becomes part of the overall budget requests that go through the District Cabinet and are presented to the BOE for their approval. Budget will be a topic of conversation at March BOE meetings as well as into the spring.

What's Next

We are following up on questions from the BOE that were asked of our Task Force and District Cabinet and staff members. We are reconciling those notes with Dan, Karen and Kristopher and will report back with any questions that we need to address together, continuing to come to any decisions as a group.

As the BFO request makes its way through the District offices and to the request for funding to the BOE, we will keep you posted. If you want to learn more about District budgeting, a yearly process which is going on right now, check out these resources from the Jeffco Finance and Budget office.

Congratulations and thank you! We hope you feel a sense of satisfaction as we completed our charge to make recommendations to the BOE by Spring 2019. Now we move forward to see what changes can be made in the near future and for the best possible long term outcomes of all kids in Jeffco. We'll continue to share information as we receive it.

If you have any questions, comments or concerns, never hesitate to reach out at any time

January 31st, 2019

The Jeffco Start Time Task Force submitted a final report with three recommendations for action to the Jeffco Board of Education. This report and presentation will be given to the Board and Superintendent Jason Glass at the February 7th Board Study Session beginning at 5:00pm.

Read the Start Times Task Force final recommendations report and presentation in the Task Force Information Tab.

Review the results of the Community Survey on changing Start Times in the Jeffco Info Tab.

Public comment on Start Times can be made in person during the regular meeting that begins at 6:00 p.m. under "Public Comment for Items on the Agenda". The sign up to speak to the Board will be available online at 10 a.m. Monday, February 4th and will close at 3:30 p.m. on February 7th. Sign up to give Public Comment for this item on the agenda here.

If you cannot attend the meeting in person, email the Board of Education with your comments here or view the Study Session and Regular Board meeting on February 7th via the livestream here. View the full February 7th Board of Education Study Session and Regular Meeting agenda on BoardDocs here.

January 2019

There is some big news to share.

Last week the Start Times Task Force tri-chairs, along with facilitator and Community Superintendent Dan Cohan, presented our survey analysis and final two recommendations to Jeffco Schools Superintendent Jason Glass and Chief of Schools, Secondary Kristopher Schuh and Chief of Schools, Elementary Karen Quanbeck. They were favorable to the recommendations and Dr. Glass suggested that we make this a two-phase recommendation, starting with:

1. Move all Jeffco schools to start a half hour later for the 2019-2010 school year. Essentially we would shift our entire school schedule a half hour later than it is today, starting next school year. Dr. Glass stated that students at Columbine High School presented this idea at a school-wide competition (covering various topics), and that given the bulk of data and research gathered by the Start Times Task Force, this recommendation for staff action could be made to the Board of Education.

This will allow us to make a positive change now, while working on the remainder of our recommendations:

2. Hire an Implementation Firm/Consultant to help implement later start times, including:

Addressing issues with transportation and to recommend options for supporting timing of after school activities.
Addressing staffing issues.
Involving the Articulation Areas and Jeffco Community at large throughout the planning and implementation process.
Creating a roll out plan, including:
- guidelines for implementation timeline
- implementing start time change processes for future start time changes
- process for working with district planning processes
- community communication
- standards/expectations for evaluation and monitoring

3. Establish BOE policy that all start times in Jefferson County Schools start on or after:

Middle: 8:00 AM
High: 8:30 AM
Note: While the task force prefers that no school starts before 8:30am, these recommended times have also taken into consideration feedback from the Jeffco community.

Next Task Force Meeting:

In light of this new recommendation proposal, we will hold a final Task Force meeting, either:

Tuesday, January 22nd- 11:30am - 12:30pm, Jeffco Schools building, room TBD; OR

Wednesday, Jan 23, 8pm via Conference Call- Details to follow

Please RSVP and provide feedback/comments here

Agenda:

We will share the updated recommendations and presentation for the Jeffco Board of Education to be made February 7
Discuss Task Force involvement on the February 7 meeting, for example, public comment and letters to BOE

We are excited to make these final Start Times Task Force recommendations to Jeffco Schools and are ready to see change to school start times!

Thank you,

Laura Johnson, Katie Winner, & Pamela Gould

December 17th, 2018

Thanks to those who could make our meeting on December 6. We reviewed preliminary survey results, discussed recommendations, and heard from a middle schooler who is passionate about starting school later.

The Start Time Survey closed on December 10. We received over 4,200 responses from mostly school-age parents and Jeffco School faculty & staff.

There is strong support for later start times for middle and high schools. In answering the question: How important is it to pursue changing start times for high school, the response for somewhat important and very important was 79%, and for middle school 77%. There is also strong support (44%) for a district-wide change. The top concerns are busing, sports and after-school responsibilities, while most people feel making a change is worth it.

Open-ended comments were favorable addressing needs for more sleep for older students, higher performance, less anxiety, higher grades as well as highlighted concerns about activities, jobs, sports, child care, bussing and parent’s work schedules.

The meeting on December 6th produced a solid list of potential final recommendations. A full draft copy is being prepared and will be sent out soon.

Thank you,

Laura Johnson, Katie Winner, & Pamela Gould

November 15th, 2018

There are a few schedule changes regarding the parent survey launch and our next meeting. We were planning on launching the survey last Friday, but we needed an extra week to give principals an update on the Start Time Task Force and review the survey before it went live. Here's the plan:

Launch the survey tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 16
Close survey Sunday, Dec. 2
Jeffco Schools Communications will advertise the survey through emails and social media. Tell your friends!
Review survey analysis with Task Force during a working meeting (Thursday, Dec. 6, 11:30am - 1pm, Jeffco Schools, Ed Center Seminar Room)

Thank you so much for your continued participation!

Laura Johnson, Katie Winner, & Pamela Gould

October 30th, 2018

Thanks to everyone who attended the last meeting and helped with the community survey. Here's the next steps:

Send an email about two days before the survey launch, briefly stating the Task Force's charge and why this topic is important to our kids
Launch the survey on Friday, Nov. 9
Close survey Sunday, Nov. 18 (Thanksgiving Break)
Review survey analysis with Task Force during a working meeting (TBD Nov. 27 OR Dec. 3, 5:30-7:30pm, Jeffco Schools)

Recently a task force member requested clarification from Dr. Glass regarding our role. He asks that we:

Make recommendations as specific as possible, including potential impacts of these recommendations
How Jeffco could design around those impacts
Include recommendations around the outreach process to Jeffco families

This brings me back to the next task force meeting. We need as much attendance and participation as possible! We plan to brainstorm recommendations on logistical issues including child care, sports, and work. We'll also consider outreach recommendations. If you can have discussions with your community to hear how they would tackle these issues to prepare for this meeting, that would be extremely helpful.

Thank you so much for all your hard work and brainpower!

Laura Johnson, Katie Winner, & Pamela Gould

September 28, 2018

First item, please save the date for our next meeting: October 15, 5:30pm - 7:30pm, Jeffco Schools - 1829 Denver W Dr, Golden. Meeting room TBD (update: room 3A/B).

Many of you have been asking, what's next? Thank you for that, and for joining us to study a complex and controversial issue. We are still working toward being able to make recommendations in January. Here is the plan we suggest:

1. Survey the community so that we can inform the school board as to what people want. We will have an online survey for your review soon. We have been through this with the mountain area, so we are practically done writing it. Once we're ready to launch, you can help me asking friends to participate. We'll also publicize it through Jeffco channels.

2. This task force needs to help Jeffco Schools determine:

* Where could later start times be implemented "tomorrow" because there are no barriers?

* Where can't it happen because of barriers? What are those barriers, specific to articulation areas?

* How can the start time task force & community help eliminate the barriers?

As part of the October 15 meeting, we'll determine what we can do within our own communities to knock down barriers. Keep gaining momentum!

Best regards,

Laura Johnson, Katie Winner, & Pamela Gould

Sept 12, 2018

Thanks to everyone who could make it to the meeting Monday. We identified pros and cons for several start time options. There were many great insights. It's such a pleasure to work with this dedicated team!

Here's a link to the presentation and meeting notes. Feel free to add to the pro/cons list, and if you have questions and want to learn more about the meeting, never hesitate to let us know. We'll work on next steps and be in touch again ASAP.

Best regards,

Laura Johnson, Katie Winner, & Pamela Gould

August 30, 2018

Tomorrow Katie, Dan, and Laura from the task force are going to present to the School Start Time Interim Study Committee. Click here for the meeting agenda. There's lots of ways to participate if you'd like:

Join us at the meeting. They've set aside time at noon for public comment. It's Friday (tomorrow) at 9am, 200 E Colfax Avenue Denver, Subcommittee Room 357.
Let us know any comments you have via our Facebook group.
Listen in live on the web.

Thank you,

Laura Johnson, Katie Winner, & Pamela Gould

August 22, 2018

We hope you had a phenomenal summer and welcome back to school! In this email is a quick update on what’s been happening and what's coming for the task force. Please note the save the date in September. Thanks for being part of the Jeffco Start Time Task Force and thanks for your hard work!

July

Thanks to those who responded to our request for input for meetings with Dan Cohan and Greg Jackson. Tri-chairs met with Greg Jackson, executive director of Jeffco transportation. Our discussion covered topics including budget, bus driver shortage, potential RTD alliance, and perimeter bussing v. corridor bussing. Tri-chairs met with Dan Cohan, achievement director. We set up a meeting with the Jeffco cabinet to get feedback on later start times from their perspectives. The cabinet meeting will take place during the week of August 26th.

July/Aug

Community Research group met and is currently documenting how other districts responded to the various concerns about starting high school later, for example, day care and bussing.

August 31st- Legislative Interim Committee on School Start Times

Our Jeffco Start Time Task Force has been asked to present to the Colorado Legislative Interim Committee on School Start Times about our work. Presenting to the Interim Committee on this day will be:

A District that contemplated implementing later start times but decided against it
One or two that have already implemented later start times- Cherry Creek, Adams 27J/Brighton
One that is in the process of considering it - Jeffco

All task force members are invited to attend the hearing and learn more about the work of this legislative group and what policies they could recommend when the Colorado State legislature returns in January 2019.

September 10th- Next Task Force Meeting

Save the date: Start Time Task Force Meeting Monday, Sept 10, 5:30-7:30pm. Agenda items will include:

Subcommittee summary of work completed Summer 2018
Summary of Meeting with Greg Jackson, Jeffco Schools Executive Director of Transportation
Task Force workflow and action plan towards January 2019 Board of Education recommendation

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Best regards,

Laura Johnson, Katie Winner, & Pamela Gould

July 10th, 2018

I hope you're enjoying this warm summer. Here's an update on current task force efforts and some questions for you.

The community research group met and our meeting notes are here.

Pamela, Katie and I made an update/clarification to our subcommittees. Please see t he mission updates.

Now a few questions. The task force chairs are meeting with Dan Cohan, achievement director, next week. In a separate meeting, we'll be talking with Jeffco Transportation executive director. What would you like us to ask them? We're also hoping to get everyone on a subcommittee. These questions are on the bottom of this f orm.

Thanks for your help!

Best regards,

Laura Johnson

June 15th, 2018- If you are a part of the Task Force and did not receive this email, contact Laura Johnson. New members can join at any time by contacting Diana Wilson.

Thank you to those of you who were able to attend the first meeting at the end of May. We look forward to meeting those who could not attend. To all, we appreciate your commitment and passion!

Since the May meeting, Pamela Gould, Katie Winner and myself met to organize as we move towards our January 2019 deadline. Now there are two information sources for you:

Jeffco Schools Task Force webpage This is the original site you've probably visited before with founding documents, Jeffco staff presentations, and meeting minutes.

Start Time Task Force Google site This new site is designed to provide more detailed information and transparency into the work we all have ahead. We see this site a place maintained and managed by the task force tri-chairs, updated and integrated with information from the Jeffco Schools page, and more. Check it out and let us know what you think.

Pamela, Katie and I assigned ourselves one of the three subcommittees, and in the Meeting Notes you will see a call to action to select which subcommittee you'd like to join. The tasks are described in the Subcommittee tab.

We look forward to hearing from you.

If you are no longer able to be a part of the work of the School Start Time Task force, please contact Diana Wilson as soon as possible at Diana.Wilson@jeffco.k12.co.us

Best regards,

Laura Johnson