School Start Times Decision

Starting in the 2025-2026 school year, Holliston Public Schools (HPS) will implement new school start times. These changes are necessary to accommodate the additional instructional time included in the new teacher contract and are also in response to ongoing parent feedback over the past four years.  

In September, following the passage of the override which provided funding to finalize the teacher contract and secure additional buses needed to go from three start times to two, the Holliston School Committee (HSC) established an advisory committee to review and make recommendations on busing and school start times. There were 16 members of the committee composed of parents, teachers, a member of the Holliston Select Board, HSC members, and administrators. After extensive discussion of the complex variables involved, the advisory committee ultimately recommended that the HSC should consider the following factors when making decisions about school times:

• The district day is not to start before 7:30 AM, nor end after 4:00 PM
• The scheduling of schools should be thoughtful around student sleep at HHS/RAMS, limit the impact on teacher retention, and limit the impact on after-school activities including, but not limited to sports, clubs, extracurriculars, and afterschool jobs.
• HHS/RAMS should start no earlier than 7:50 AM
• Survey stakeholders for feedback

Following the establishment of these recommendations, and given concerns about the advisory committee’s school pairings recommendation, the Elementary Principals developed a new proposal (linked here) that would allow the Placentino and Miller schools to start at the same time at Miller’s current start time of 7:30AM. Previously, starting these schools at the same time had not been a feasible option, but with 10 additional minutes for Placentino and 15 additional minutes for Miller negotiated by the HSC and HFT into the new contract, along with arrival and dismissal efficiencies implemented during COVID, the administrators realized that this was now a viable option to consider.

At the November 26, 2024 School Committee meeting the HSC reviewed the advisory committee’s recommendation, the principals’ recommendation, as well as other potential start times options. Ultimately, the HSC narrowed down the options to three different school time options. Each of these options would utilize a two-bus-run structure, with Placentino and Miller Schools starting together, and the Middle and High Schools starting together. After this meeting the HSC distributed a survey to students, families and staff to gather feedback on these options. The HSC heard additional public comments, reviewed administration recommendations, and presented the survey results at the December 12, 2024 School Committee meeting.

The HSC acknowledges that establishing new school start times is an incredibly complex decision. The goal was to find a solution that is in the best interest of our students, balancing sleep, after-school activities, and minimizing impact on families and staff. After the December 12th meeting, members of the HSC worked with the administration on finding a solution that kept with the spirit of the options surveyed but addressed concerns raised by the community during the process. The administration presented two slightly modified options at our December 19, 2024 meeting for our additional consideration. After careful consideration of the available information, survey data, feedback, concerns, emails, and public comment, the HSC voted to establish the following school times starting with the 2025-2026 school year:

Thank you to all the students, families, and staff who provided essential feedback and perspectives to the HSC through surveys, emails, and public comment. We appreciate your insight and contributions to this process.