Sign Online Petition for Later Start Time for Schools
For a White House response, 5,000 signatures are needed by Nov. 2.
The zombies at the bus stop on Tuesday morning weren't leftovers from Halloween—they were sleep-deprived teens who headed out in the darkness to meet the school bus. Broadneck High School students start their day at 7:17 a.m.
There's currently a movement to promote legislation to prevent public schools from starting earlier than 8 a.m. However, there is not much time left to support an online petition.
Terra Snider's post on later high school start times that first appeared on Severna Park Patch Oct. 13 garnered a strong reaction from residents and others who have signed the online petition.
Snider said there are 1,000 signatures on the petition; however, 5,000 are needed by Nov. 2 for a White House response. Any resident age 13 and older can sign the petition.
If you support a later start time for high school students and haven’t signed the petition, you can do so at http://wh.gov/2qJ.
Terra Snider
2:13 pm on Tuesday, November 1, 2011
If anyone has trouble signing the petition (some people have technical difficulties, please send me an email). We only have 24 hours to get 3500 more signatures--so let people know if you care about this issue, one we haven't been able to address here for decades. And, remember, any American 13 or older can sign. It's two minutes well worth spending!
Terra Ziporyn Snider, Ph.D.
10:08 pm on Friday, November 4, 2011
If you missed a chance to sign--or couldn't sign!--the We the People petition for a later school start time, there's now a new petition via SignOn.org. Just go to http://bit.ly/tWa4dS.
Terra Ziporyn Snider, Ph.D.
8:11 am on Thursday, December 1, 2011
We just hit 1000 names on our new petition for later school start time, with many coming from the Broadneck area! If you still haven't had a chance to sign, go to http://bit.ly/tWa4dS . We're aiming for 5000 names, at which point we're delivering this petition personally in DC. Meanwhile, thanks for you support, and for spreading the word about this critical and too long neglected matter.
Terra Ziporyn Snider, Ph.D.
11:43 am on Friday, December 9, 2011
A study of first-year U.S. Air Force Academy students showed that those starting classes before 8 a.m. performed worse not only in their first-period courses but in all their courses. Citing that study, as well as the new Brookings study showing how penny wise, pound foolish it is to send our teens to school in the dark, the School Committee in Amherst, MA is considering changing start times from 7:45 to 9 am starting next year. Meanwhile, here in Anne Arundel County we still begin all high schols at the absurd hour of 7:17 a.m. When are we going to wake up?
Terra Ziporyn Snider, Ph.D.
7:06 pm on Sunday, January 8, 2012
Our homegrown petition to start school later - http://bit.ly/tWa4dS - now has over 2,000 names from all over the country. If you support this idea, click the link to sign it, and to see what others are saying about why it makes sense to limit how early schools can start the day. When we get to 5,000 names, we plan to bring the petition to decisionmakers in DC and hope at the very least to bring national attention to this extremely complicated but critical issue.
Terra Ziporyn Snider, Ph.D.
6:44 pm on Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Update: We're delivering this petition (http://bit.ly/tWa4dS) to members of Congress, including those representing AA County (of course!), on March 7 if we get to goal of 5000 names by then. Right now we're at 4100, so please keep signing and sharing the link if you're tired of waiting for schools to "wake up" to the idea that it's time to put health and learning first. Meanwhile, thanks for all your support!