Resident: More notice needed for school start time meetings

A Barrington resident wants to spread the word about the commission meetings that are focused on school start times. 

Gina Pine recently sent an email to the "Special Legislative Commission to Study All Aspects Involved in Changing the Start Time of Rhode Island Public High Schools," asking that a greater effort be made to alert the public on the upcoming meetings.

The commission held a hearing on Monday, Jan. 8, where three people offered testimony and a handful of others submitted written comments. 

At the start of Monday's hearing, commission chairwoman Rep. Julie Casimiro listed the names of six people who had sent written comments to the commission — all six are from Barrington. 

Rep. Casimiro said Jennifer Boylan and Cynthia Rosengard wrote statements in favor of later start times, while Debbie Jaffe, Jason Leigh and Ann Pelletier wrote statements opposed to changing start times. Rep. Casimiro said Gina Pine had also written and was neither for nor against the change, but wanted to request more opportunities for public comment.

Ms. Pine, a social work practitioner and a member of the Barrington School Committee, said she was writing to the commission in her capacity as a social work practitioner. 

"My email to the commission was to express concerns that the majority of Rhode Islanders were not aware there was a commission in place to study this issue, and so many Rhode Islanders, including working families, would be impacted," wrote Ms. Pine in an email to the Barrington Times.

"I recommended another meeting take place with advance media coverage via schools, Projo, social media sites and radio. I also suggested that a meeting take place with every superintendent in the State of Rhode Island to address if such a change is feasible, the cost, busing, the impact to students in all age groups."