RIDGEFIELD — The district still has a year before it changes school start times to better align with student sleep schedules, but recent challenges have left some wondering whether that will be enough time to successfully make the shift.

Acting Superintendent Robert Miller has been leading the initiative since October, when he was the district’s operations and technology director. He told school board members recently that since he was appointed acting superintendent, the work has slowed.

Some board members worried whether the district would still be able to push the high school start time to an hour later and adjust the other grade level start times accordingly by the 2019-20 school year because of Miller’s new responsibilities and the lack of a business manager. The board is currently searching for an interim superintendent and someone to replace the business manager, who retired in January.

“Even though we gave ourselves a year and a half, we found ourselves in a position we never anticipated,” board member Margaret Stamatis said. “I would not want this to move forward if we were not able to apply the correct resources.”

Parents who spoke at the recent Board of Education meeting also said they were concerned with deciding on a change to start times before a permanent superintendent is chosen.

The board is also grappling with how to address the concerns of those against the change.

At the recent school board meeting, a dozen parents and leaders of sports groups spoke out against the initiative, which aims to make the 7:25 a.m. high school start time an hour later in the 2019-20 school year. An online petition to keep start times unchanged has gained almost 1,000 signatures.

A major concern among parents, and board members, has been that none of the scenarios considered for shifting start times allow all grade levels to start at the recommended window between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m.

Parents from three of the district’s elementary schools, which start at 9:10 a.m., have said for years that the start time is too late. They urged board members to address this concern in any start times change.

“It is time that the three late elementary schools and their families are the first and highest priority on your list, not just the high school students,” parent Sandy Griffin said.

Board members explained that the late elementary start times were a result of switching from a three-wave to a four-wave bus system several years ago to save money. Allowing all students to start between 8 and 9 a.m. would likely mean switching back to a three-wave system, which officials have said could cost $1.5 million.

Most board members suggested looking into the three-wave option and whether any “creative solutions” could bring down costs.

“I know nobody wants to hear that — I don’t want to hear that as a taxpayer — but I think with the four-tier bus system, we’re just going to keep rearranging the chairs on the deck,” board member Kathleen Holz said.

Other parents and sports group leaders said they were against shifting any start times because of how it might conflict with after school activities or sports.

Miller said estimates show that each student athlete would miss an average of 2.75 hours of school in the winter and 8.15 hours of school in the spring if they got out an hour later, but had to leave early for sports.

In the project update, Miller also focused on the reasons the board decided last fall that they will change school start times for the 2019-20 school year. He said over 70 local health care professionals and many national medical associations support starting school later so students can get the recommended amount of sleep.

“As a board we’ve accepted what the science told us, that this improves student health and well-being,” he said. “Now, we’re trying to figure out how we financially and logistically make this work.”

Parents in favor of the change, who started a Ridgefield chapter of the national nonprofit Start School Later, gained 844 signatures on a petition last year.

Miller told board members the next steps include completing a traffic study and talking with after school activity representatives once a scenario is chosen. He added that a big part will continue to be raising awareness in the community of why the change is needed.

“We have a group of parents that are adamant for the change, and a group of parents that are adamant against the change,” Miller said. “We need to figure out a new strategy to engage the community around this initiative to get the buy-in that we need for this change.”

aquinn@newstimes.com