Parents are also concerned about their kids being in after-school programming for many hours. Those are major issues, and they will affect every family involved. But there are a couple points no one seems to be talking about.
The new start times will disproportionately harm low-income families, single parents and women who work.
I know of families in the Boston Public School system throughout the city who — with start times similar to what my family experiences at Manning (9:30 a.m. to 4:10 p.m.) — are able to stagger working parents’ hours so one parent is home before school, and one parent is home after school. Or, perhaps for either morning or afternoon, kids go to before- or after-care for just an hour or two.
But for those who can’t stagger working hours — specifically single parents or families who don’t have any wiggle room on working hours — kids often see themselves to bus stops in the morning, then wait an hour or so after school, alone, until parents return. I see it every day.