Some Willard Elementary School Parents Not Happy About New Start Time

Willard Elementary School parents recently found out the Willard administrators have asked to change the start of the school day for Willard from 8 a.m. to 8:40 a.m. 

And some are not happy. 

"You may be asking yourself what the big deal is, it's only 45 minutes later if this passes," said Willard parent Marilyn Richter. "It would mean more parents will have to sign up and pay money for a before and after program as most jobs start between the hours of 8 and 9 a.m. If they cannot afford such program then that would mean that they would have to try to change their hours at work or may even have to resort to changing their jobs.

"I understand that the town is trying to save money, but theses changes are going to impact the lives of many working families. Maybe the town will, in fact, save some pennies but the average Willard School Parent will not." 

Richter started a petition Wednesday around noon and by 4 p.m. it already had 55 signatures. To see the petition, go here. 

"They told us that the reason for the change is transportation, busses arriving late and the fact that Willard starts at a different time than Hubbard and Griswold that teachers miss out on training," Richter said. "I run a staffing agency and I can work from home so this doesn't hurt me. But I can tell you we get a lot of people coming through the agency that ask for a job that starts after 9 a.m. because they have to get the kids on the bus. They may be the perfect candidate but they can't be hired because they can't get to work before 9 a.m."

Board of Education President Gary Brochu said the town will not save money, as the proposal is cost neutral, but there are many other reasons the common start time makes sense.

"We have talked abut a common start time for the elementary schools for a while because we only have three schools and it didn't make much sense to have a staggered start time," Brochu said. "Willard administrators came to us with a plan. They had worked with New Britain Transportation and found a way to have all three schools start at the same time without any additional cost for transportation.

"The benefits are numerous. It will help immensely when we have professional development. Because we had staggered times in the past, we had to take teachers out of the classroom and hire substitutes so they could get the needed training. That's not the best situation. 

"We have also seen Willard students waiting at the end of the school day for 15 to 20 minutes because the busses were still finishing their runs for Berlin High School and McGee. That's not ideal either."

Brochu understands that parents might be upset.

"We understand this might be inconvenient for the parents," he said. "Any change is inconvenient but this is something two thirds of the parents have been doing all along. We understand that there is not a single pick-up time we could pick that would be perfect. We see this is being a positive move for the district because all three schools will have a common start time, it will help academically and instructionally and it will also aid in the professional development of our teachers."

Richter said she and other concerned parents will meet with Willard administrators at 8:30 a.m. Monday morning at the Board of Education office to share their concerns.