Littleton School Committee Plans December Vote on School Start Time Change

LITTLETON — November 17, 2022 — Littleton School Committee advances toward a December 1 vote on changing school start times, with a follow-up community survey launching the next day. The subcommittee co-led by committee members Stacy Rao and Jen Austin presented results from a 1,334-response survey showing 33 percent of respondents preferring the current schedule and 67 percent favoring some form of change, though presenters cautioned the data carried a built-in status quo bias. The three-option follow-up survey will include a newly viable two-tier Option 6 — pairing the high school and middle school at one start time and Shaker Lane and Russell Street at another — at an estimated additional annual cost of $280,000, a three-tier Shift 25 option, and the current schedule. The committee also received a preliminary FY2024 budget projection of roughly $1.7 million above the current appropriated budget of $23,050,000 — a 7.4 percent increase driven by salary adjustments, a bus contract renewal, inflation-driven utility costs, and out-of-district special education placements rising at the state-allowed 14 percent rate. In separate action, the committee voted unanimously to dedicate the alumni field ticket booth to longtime community member Millie McGovern.