Joins nationwide lawsuit against E-cigarettes and vaping products

            A recently released study on the impact of sleep deprivation in adolescence is prompting some school districts to reconsider secondary school start times. Quakertown Community School District administrators, teachers and parents are looking closely at the benefits and feasibility of letting their students sleep in.

             During Thursday night's school board meeting, QCSD parent Kara Diliberto reported on the newly formed Community School Start Times committee. According to Diliberto, twenty-five Pennsylvania districts have already pushed back secondary school start times. Quakertown is one of twenty-eight other districts actively investigating the change.

            So far, the committee has attended two Bucks County Intermediate Unit presentations on report findings and recommendations for implementation.

            "There is science behind it," Diliberto said of the study's findings. "It is overwhelming what is improved by just an extra hour of sleep."

            The Pennsylvania Joint State Government Commission officially released the report in early October, detailing the impact that sleep deprivation has on health and wellness, safety and school performance. The full report can be found on the district's website.

            The committee will begin by gathering input from district stakeholders, including educators, law enforcement and student employers. They are also developing a survey to send to the community.

            In other business Thursday night, the board adopted a resolution to join school districts nationwide in a lawsuit against the makers of electronic cigarettes and vaping products. The law firms Begley Carlin & Mandio and Wagstaff & Cartmell are filing the lawsuit, seeking compensation for districts for damages incurred by student vaping.

            On the district website, solicitor Jeffrey Garton noted that there is no cost to participate in the lawsuit.

During his report, Superintendent William Harner announced that Nancianne Edwards, Assistant Superintendent, Administration and Technology, will receive an outstanding leadership award by the Pennsylvania Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development during their fall conference this November in Hershey.

            President Steaven Klein announced that there was an executive session before the meeting to discuss safety and security as well as legal issues.