Feature: Clearing the Snooze Hurdles
What three districts did to create later school start times to address teenagers' sleep patterns
BY MERRI ROSENBERG
Anyone
who’s ever tried to rouse a high school student from bed to catch that
6:55 a.m. bus to arrive at school on time knows how tenaciously that
teen will cling to the bedcovers. Pity the teacher who has to instill
complicated algebraic concepts at 7:30 in the morning or discuss the
subtler points of the American Revolution during that groggy
first-period class.
For the past couple of
decades, research by Kyla Wahlstrom at the University of Minnesota (see
related story, page 16) and others, demonstrated strongly that
teenagers’ biological clocks simply don’t mesh with the conventional
middle and high school bell schedule.
Even
the American Academy of Pediatrics has weighed in on the issue. In a
recent policy statement, published in late August, the organization
asserted that school start times for adolescents should begin no earlier
than 8:30 a.m. to align more closely their need for sleep and
biological rhythms with successful school performance. According to that
paper, about 1,000 high schools, out of more than 18,000 nationwide,
have altered their start time.
Tough Obstacles
In
October 2014, the Fairfax County, Va., Public Schools, which educates
nearly 187,000 students, approved a later start time for its 27 high
schools and already has allocated 20 new buses to make the transition
work. The change, taking effect in 2015-16, is projected to cost close
to $5 million.
They hope to see similar
outcomes to those being realized in Decatur, Ga., which exercised its
flexibility as a state-authorized charter district. Two years ago,
Decatur moved its high school start an hour later, to 8:30 a.m., with
middle schools starting at 8:45 a.m. Lauri McKain, who was high school
principal at the time, noted the number of tardy students dropped, more
eligible students took advantage of the breakfast program and more
students could be accommodated for tutoring before and after classes.
Yet
many districts find the logistical bugaboos relating to student
transportation and budgetary constraints too hard to overcome. There
also are the complications in interscholastic athletics schedules and
parents who want their high schoolers home early to look after younger
siblings. Good intentions fail in the face of obstacles like these.
Even
so, some districts have figured out how to make skillful adaptations,
strategic negotiations and compromises, and to deliver the right message
and get the needed buy-in from staff, students and communities.
Stories
follow of three school districts in urban, suburban and rural
communities that have made a successful switch to later start times for
secondary school students.
o o o
Edina,
Minn., on the outskirts of Minneapolis, was the first district in the
nation to embrace a later start time for high school students 19 years
ago.
“We did it based on good research,”
says Kenneth Dragseth, the district’s superintendent between 1992 and
2006. “This came up, and we thought if we believe this research, we
should try to make a change.”
The middle
school’s opening bell moved to 7:50 a.m. from 7:45 a.m., a very minor
switch, but it allowed the high school to push its start time to 8:30.
The operating hours remain the same today.
The
process in Edina was methodical and comprehensive. The district studied
the issue for about six months, with a committee looking at everything
from transportation and sports to the impact on local employers. (Many
students worked at local businesses starting at 4 p.m., and district
leaders recognized they had to address those concerns.) It helped,
Dragseth says, that the change was “a cost-neutral process, not an
additional cost.”
To deal with the
inconvenience around after-school athletics, Dragseth met with all the
superintendents in the local athletic conference. Even though some were
definitely angry about the switch and there was some pushback from
varsity coaches in Edina, Dragseth says educators made adjustments to
allow students with out-of-town competitions to leave early.
Even
parents who had planned on their older children babysitting younger
children after school adjusted and “were glad the older kids were there
for the younger ones in the morning,” Dragseth says. “The kids were on
board right away.”
As Bruce Locklear, the
principal at Edina High School, says, “It’s recognized that a
well-rested student is a more effective learner. The late start is part
of the tradition of Edina, it’s a major part of our culture. They
understand the importance of rest.”
Even
more significant, he adds, is that “this was not driven by whether or
not the [athletic] conference is aligned. It was done because it’s the
best thing for students. The core has always been academic and student
performance, and figuring out how to make it work. People enjoy the
mornings.”
Looking at time in a more
flexible way, the district offers a program called “collaborative
Wednesdays,” a block of 118 minutes in the middle of that day when
students can meet with teachers, work in small groups on projects or
catch up on reading.
Given Minnesota
winters, another benefit of the later start time is that it provides
“more opportunities for the snowplows to get to work,” Locklear says.
And by now, says Dragseth, who still lives in the area, “nobody knows anything different.”
o o o
 |
| Testimony
from student Jilly Dos Santos influenced the Columbia, Mo., school
board and Superintendent Peter Stiepleman to adjust official school
hours beginning in fall 2013. |
In
Columbia, Mo., the reality of a new high school coming on line in this
18,000-student district prompted the discussion in 2012-13 about moving
back the start time.
As the fourth
largest district in the state, encompassing urban, suburban and rural
communities within its borders, Columbia operates 220 buses on multiple
routes, covering 300 square miles.
The
exploratory committee included the school board president, deputy
superintendent of transportation, principals, teachers and parents. By
May 2013, the board approved the plan, and when students attended the
first day of their new school that fall, the opening bell rang at 8:50
a.m.
The district was diligent about its
communication and outreach efforts, according to superintendent Peter
Stiepleman, who served as assistant superintendent during the approval
process. To assuage parent concerns about earlier pickup times for the
younger children, especially on the outlying country roads, the
administration asked the elementary school principals to call affected
families to solicit their feedback.
“We
readjusted the timelines, trying for 6:45 as a pickup,” Stiepleman says.
The reality is “somebody has to get up early.” Logistical factors
forced some elementary school pick ups to move to 6:30 a.m.
There
was constant communication about the proposed change, from calling
individual families to board presentations. That even included memorable
testimony from student Jilly Dos Santos, who brought her case to the
board about a later start to her high school day. As Stiepleman tells
it, “Jilly was prepared, she took it seriously and delivered a message,
‘Let me tell you what kids are saying.’ She had really thought about it,
and her role was important.”
Now, almost 1½ years into the schedule changes, “the pushback was not as robust as we thought,” the superintendent says.
Stiepleman
is cautious about overstating long-term benefits, though he reports
attendance increases at the high school and elementary school levels.
“If you increase attendance, you increase achievement,” Stiepleman says.
The rate was 85 percent in 2012-13 and 90 percent last year among all
demographics.
One unanticipated benefit
was the ability to transport students from elementary schools to a
special district half-day program for students with behavioral issues,
at no additional cost to the district, reducing the need for a budget
cut.
With elementary schools now starting
at 7:50 a.m. instead of 8:50, the schools added clubs at the end of the
day so students could stay later.
“It’s
still a challenge for sports,” says Stiepleman, referring to the
interscholastic conference that includes Columbia. “Other districts are
not on the same time. We put wireless on the buses so kids could do
their homework and do class work, even if they have to leave early.”
o o o
In
Jackson, Wyo., the school system first explored the issue of school
hours in 2006-07, but encountered “strong resistance to change” and
shelved the consideration temporarily, Teton County School District
Superintendent Pamela Shea says.
 |
| Superintendent Pamela Shea greets students in Jackson, Wyo., where the opening high school bell now rings at 8:55 a.m. |
However,
as concerns mounted over student tardiness owing to a high school start
time of 7:30 a.m. and parents complained about the difficulty of
getting their teens off to school, the district took up the issue anew.
“With accountability, that was a trigger to look at this again,” says Shea, citing concerns about academic performance.
The
district identified the usual barriers and raised questions about
after-school programs and day care centers before attempting any
schedule adjustments.
“We have learned
that when you enact change, you need to have a powerful ‘why’ first,”
she says. “It has to be very purposeful and address a need. You have to
engage communities. People want to know and be involved.”
The
district confronted several issues that were particular to its location
and community makeup. When school started at 7:25 a.m., “it was hard
for staff to get [such early] day care,” Shea says. “Now we have all
staff starting at the same time.” Similarly, some parents objected to
the impact of a later school start on family dinnertime.
With
significant student involvement in club and school athletic
participation, the district faced another challenge. “Where we really
had to problem solve was with swimming and the use of facilities,” Shea
says. “We had to sit down with the stakeholders and discuss the
possibility of changing the schedule.”
Even
skiing had to be considered. “It gets dark early, around 4-4:30, and we
had to ensure that our Nordic skiers had enough daylight for their
practice,” she adds.
It cost the Jackson
district about $250,000 to launch the schedule change initially, mostly
to add buses and drivers and to revamp bus routes. The opening high
school bell now rings at 8:55 a.m., one of the later start times among
high schools that have shifted operating hours. (One Florida high school
starts at 9:25 a.m.) That decision was based, Shea says, on concerns
relating to “how early do we want kindergarteners on the bus?”
The district has begun to see positive changes during the past two years, with 220 fewer tardy students in the morning.
“People
had expressed fear that kids would just stay up later, but
predominantly that didn’t happen,” says Shea, pointing as well to
benefits to the physical and mental health of students. Fewer car
accidents involve local teens — according to a local follow-up study,
which calculated a 70 percent reduction.
“We’ve
made a commitment for three years,” Shea adds. During the fall
semester, the district planned to examine how the changes have worked
and will “start community dialogue” to assess what scheduling
adjustments or tweaks are needed.
Merri Rosenberg is a freelance education writer in Ardsley, N.Y. E-mail: merri.rosenberg@gmail.com