Survey: 72% of Barrington 220 community wants to change start times

Around 72 percent of the 4,829 Barrington Area Unit School District 220 community members want the district to change start times next year, according to the results of a district survey.

The online survey, which was open last week from Tuesday afternoon to Saturday night, was the community's first chance to respond to the three start-time options the school board has been discussing since spring.

About 39.6 percent of the parents, students, staff members and community members said they preferred option C, which was only slightly more popular than option B, which got the support of around 36.5 percent of respondents. Option A, which is estimated to be the most expensive option, came in third place with around 23.8 percent.

Board President Brian Battle said they were happy to hear from the community, and their reaction will inform board members as they come to a decision. After hearing a presentation about data from district staff members, the board asked a few clarifying questions about the survey results but did not seem to indicate how they might vote.

District staff members broke down the survey responses by education level, and Battle noted it appeared the most popular option among each group was to pick the option that started at 8 a.m. About 51 percent of students, parents and staff members associated with Barrington High School picked option B as their favorite, which would start students at 8 a.m. Roughly 45 percent of the middle school community selected option C, which would do the same for them.

Those interested can see the survey results, as well as a detailed 34-page memo about them, at the district's website, barrington220.org.

District spokeswoman Morgan Delack, who was responsible for collating the vast amount of data, said the written comments from survey respondents totaled around 300 pages.

The board will continue the community engagement portion of the ongoing start times discussion at two town-hall meetings next week.

The first meeting is scheduled for 11 a.m. Oct. 11 at Lagendorf Park, 235 Lions Drive, Barrington. The second is set for 7 p.m. Oct. 13 at Barrington High School.

The board is expected to choose a start-time option on Nov. 1.