Dear OJR School District Families and Staff,

This school year, with the COVID-19 pandemic firmly behind us, we have an invaluable opportunity to come together and re-evaluate the needs of our students. That is why I am inviting you to a special community forum at 6 p.m. on Thursday, October 6, at Owen J. Roberts Middle School, to discuss school start times for the 2023-2024 school year.

Over the last several years, OJR has conducted extensive research focused on school start times and solicited multiple rounds of feedback on the subject from students, families, staff and the community in the form of surveys, presentations and meetings. Based on our findings and previous input we received, we are now ready to present the community with options for consideration and discuss the best ways for us to proceed together to best serve our students.

As part of the school start time community forum, we aim to share research and survey findings, discuss benefits and challenges, look at costs and other factors, as well as answer your questions. Guests will learn the benefits of providing older students with additional hours of sleep and hear about the experiences of neighboring school districts that already updated their start times. Together, we’ll explore the best options to proceed and make a final recommendation for consideration by the Board of School Directors this fall.

In advance of the community forum, we’ve revamped our school start time portal to include all the information we will discuss and put together a collection of resources for the community to explore. You can access the site by visiting the District’s website at http://www.ojrsd.com or by visiting the portal directly at https://www.ojrsd.com/Page/10477. 

To help us plan for the forum, as a courtesy we ask that you please consider registering in advance at https://forms.gle/7ZmTroW2nJyjq3B6A. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at community@ojrsd.net. 

I sincerely appreciate your time and consideration. I hope you are able to join us at the community forum and I look forward to discussing this important work on behalf of OJR students!

Dr. Will Stout

Superintendent