Sometimes, you get very good ideas from your readers. I have one reader that got on a roll Friday night. The issue was school start times.
Here in Fishers, the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) School System starts school early in the later grades. For example, High Schools, Junior Highs and Intermediate levels all start classes at 7:35 in the morning. The elementary buildings start classes at 8:55am.
According to the latest scientific studies, 7:35am may be too early to start school. That’s according to a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control released in early August and a policy statement issued last year by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
My reader sent me tons of articles based on these findings. The bottom line is this….the science indicates start times for middle school to high school should be no earlier than 8:30am.
The reason for the recommendation by the experts is the impact early start times have on student achievement. Earlier start times lead to less sleep….less sleep leads to reduced performance in schools.
It should be noted that a group of students made a presentation to the HSE School Board some time ago citing the American Academy of Pediatrics data and asking that school start times be changed. The board listened but has so far taken no action.
It should be noted here that changing start times is not as easy as it may sound. The entire school transportation network is based on starting school at the times we have now. Fishers is a growing suburb with major traffic jams during rush hours in the morning and evening, which makes school bus scheduling a vexing problem.
That is one major reason the school board cannot act quickly to address these scientific findings. However, with the evidence mounting that late start times are better in the later grade levels, one wonders if the HSE administration and school board may consider changes in the future based on all the data we see now.
In the meantime, my reader will certainly keep me posted on Twitter about the latest on students and sleep.