Later start could help high-schoolers learn, but there’s no consensus on such a change
Wake County parents, students and school employees are split over the idea of elementary schools and high schools swapping start times so that teens can start classes later in the morning.
The Wake County school system surveyed the community about flipping start times so that elementary schools begin at 7:30 a.m. and high schools start at 9:15 a.m. The survey data shared with school board members on Wednesday showed high school parents leaned toward the later start time but elementary school prefer keeping the current schedule.
The survey responses were also mixed among students, parents and school employees who said flipping the bell schedule is preferable for in-school reasons such as academics. But the three groups said the current schedule is better for family and out-of-school considerations such as work schedules, sports and band.
“This is a no-win situation,” said school board member Dr. Wing Ng.
Any potential major changes to start times would not be made until the 2024-25 school year. In addition to flipping elementary and high school times, other options that have been discussed including starting all schools at least 30 minutes later.
Drew Cook, assistant superintendent for academics, told the school board’s student achievement committee they could pilot new bell schedules at some schools before trying a countywide change.
Sleep research
Wake uses a three-tier system in which the same bus makes multiple runs in the morning and afternoon. This reduces the number of buses that are needed.
In the first tier, high schools run from 7:25 a.m. to 2:18 p.m. Middle schools are on the second tier and run from 8:15 a.m to 3 p.m. Elementary schools are on the third tier and run from 9:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.
“Ideally, most want something like an 8:45-3:15 school day for all students,” according to Wake’s presentation.
Starting all schools at the same time is unlikely because it would require more bus drivers at a time when Wake already has a 32% driver vacancy rate.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that middle and high schools begin at 8:30 a.m. or later to better align with the circadian rhythms of adolescents. It’s one of the reasons that California requires high schools to start no earlier than 8:30 a.m.
In 2017, Durham Public Schools flipped its schedules to start elementary schools earlier at 7:45 a.m. and high schools later at 9:15 a.m.
To gauge community interest, Wake surveyed people about having elementary schools run from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., middle schools from 8:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. and high schools from 9:15 a.m. to 4:10 p.m.
Mixed parent response
Wake drew more than 12,951 parent responses.
A majority of elementary school parents said the current 9:15 a.m. start is better for their family schedules and for their work schedules.
Pluralities of elementary school parents also said they preferred how the current schedule handles their children’s before- and after-school care, children’s activities outside of school, children’s health and children’s academic performance.
“I don’t like the idea of little kids getting picked up at 5:45,” said school board member Sam Hershey.
In contrast, a majority of high school parents said the later start time would help their children’s academic performance, children’s health, children’s alertness in school and overall family schedule.
The only areas where a plurality of high school parents said they prefer the current 7:25 a.m. start time is how it affects their children’s work schedule and activities outside of school. This includes sports and band.
Cook said the data shows there are competing interests when it comes to changing start times.
School employees mixed
The responses among the 3,423 school employees who took the survey was also mixed.
A majority of high school employees said they prefer the current earlier start time for their work and family schedules. At the same time, a majority of elementary school staff also would prefer to change to an earlier start time for their work and family schedules.
But a majority of both elementary and high school employees said switching to starting elementary schools earlier and high schools later would help their students’ academic performance and health.
Still, echoing concerns of parents and students, 75% of high school employees said they prefer how the current earlier start time helps their students’ work schedules and activities outside of school.
Students divided over change
More than 1,200 high school students took the survey.
Two-thirds of high school students said the later 9:15 a.m. start time would help their alertness in school and health. In addition, 58% said the later start time would help their academic performance.
But students were also concerned about how starting school nearly two hours later would impact their schedules.
▪ 63% said they prefer how the current schedule impacts activities outside of school such as sports, band and lessons.
▪ A slight majority of 51% said they prefer the current earlier start time’s impact on their work schedule.
▪ A plurality of 48% said the current start time is better for their overall family schedule.
“The potential positives (more sleep) would not happen,” said an unnamed high school student on the Superintendent’s Student Leadership Council. “The amount of activities would not change it would just be shifting back or forward. It would put a strain on extracurricular activities, jobs and college courses.”
This story was originally published April 12, 2023 at 6:08 PM.
