Longtime Barrington resident Tom "TR" Rimoshytus said he anticipates a large crowd of people will attend the Barrington School Committee meeting tonight, Feb. 16.

Check out the meeting's agenda.

Mr. Rimoshytus said many people in town are concerned with the district's decision to change start times at the high school and middle school. He said some of the concerns are centered on the costs associated with the start time change. The shift to later start times will reportedly cost taxpayers $419,000 annually.

One of the first items on tonight's meeting agenda is the start time change, following directly by the proposed school budget and then a public comment period.

In a recent letter to the editor, Mr. Rimoshytus encouraged people to attend the Feb. 16 meeting, stating in part "I do not think the taxpayers should be paying a minimum of $417,000 to let our kids sleep later. Part of the issues with teens and sleep is technology. This has been documented in numerous recent publications. Perhaps we should begin with educating our students and parents about healthy sleep routines. After all, it is the business of the school department to educate kids, not parent them."

Currently, the high school starts classes at 7:45 a.m. and the middle school begins at 7:40. 

The school committee voted last year to push those times to 8:30 a.m. 

Tonight's meeting starts at 7 p.m. and will be held in the school committee room.