The county has created a working group to study whether to change school start times, superintendent Joshua Starr announced yesterday at a Board of Education meeting.

After a petition arguing for later bell times garnered over 10,000 signatures, the Board discussed the issue at the meeting Tuesday.

The petition was started in October by Mandi Mader, an adolescent psychotherapist and parent of two students in the Walter Johnson cluster. She presented the issue to the Board Tuesday along with doctors and experts in sleep and psychology. Mader hopes to be part of the working group, she said.

“We’re very happy with the outcome of our efforts,” she said.

The work group will review past reports and research and gather community input to study the effects of later start times, according to an MCPS statement.

“I want to make sure we have a full understanding of the impact that school bell times have on student achievement and other areas of development,” Dr. Starr said in the statement. “A change in school bell times would affect every student in Montgomery County, and would have a significant impact on our budget and operations. Therefore, it is imperative we have all the information we need before making any decisions.”