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Fairfax, VA Turns to Later Start Times for Improvement
Fairfax County is seeking to address the long-debated issue of school start times and push back the start of their school day from 7:20am to at least 8am.
At the moment in Fairfax County classes begin ay 7:20am and school buses begin picking up students before 6am. If these children want to do things such as shower and eat breakfast this means setting a 5am alarm call. The board is reopening the debate on whether to start classes later as critics continue their decade long push for later times, claiming that forcing teenagers to wake before dawn has negative effects on their physical and mental health and is obviously detrimental to their academic performance.
The board is to vote on April 12 regarding a resolution by new school board member, Sandy Evans, that they should have a stated goal of starting High School after 8am and that Superintendent Dale should investigate and report how nearby school districts achieved later start times.
Evans co-founded the advocacy group SLEEP (Start Later for Excellence in Education Proposal) in 2004. Nearly 9,000 people have signed the group’s online petition urging school and county officials to address the issue.
There is always resistance to change as people have based their routines on the current arrangements. When the school board considered a similar proposal in 2009 it was rejected 10-2 after complaints from parents, teachers that it would heavily disrupt work and child-care arrangements. Students also noted that it would impact after-school activities.
However, Evans isn’t the only new board member; half the board has changed since the last vote and the new members appear to be reform-oriented.
The school board heard testimony on the issue last week from several members of the public.
The speakers urged the board to adopt the resolution, telling stories about exhausted sons and daughters struggling to meet the demands of school and extracurricular activities.
Studies have shown that later start times do have a positive academic impact, and that early school start times create what is essentially a state of permanent jet lag in their adolescent populations who have a natural tendency towards late bedtimes.
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Comments
Wow, classes in the US start really early!
When I went to high school, I had classes starting at 7:30 and I had over an hour commute to school too. Also, I had to walk to school barefoot through 8 feet of snow uphill both ways.
Fairfax Co is hardly unique in their frustration with this perennial problem. The research is crystal clear that starting high schools so absurdly early – a practice that began a few decades ago largely to save $ on bus runs – is both dangerous and counterproductive. The solution for most school systems, however, may require collective action on a national scale, which is something we’re trying to achieve at StartSchoolLater.net, a grassroots coalition of health professionals, sleep researchers, educators, parents, students, and other concerned citizens. Our first initiative is a petition (http://bit.ly/tWa4dS) requesting 8 a.m. as a minimum school start time for children of any age, to be established to protect basic public health and safety. Such a barebones limit would make it easier for local schools to prioritize health and well-being when they set their particular schedules.
This reform is so long overdue. Ask any of these dedicated volunteers how many years they’ve been working to bring about this change to a healthier school day. It should not be this difficult! The science is overwhelmingly in favor if starting school later (8:30 or later) and school boards need to do what’s right for students. NOW!
Starting at noon would be too early for some students. while an 8 to 830 start time is reasonable and will help some it doesn’t alleviate the problem. Putting kids to bed at an age appropriate time knowing they need to be at school would have a much greater impact. FYI every school I have taught in (4) has started 8 or later.