For years, local community members have been requesting the Northshore School District (NSD)to take action on new start times for high schoolers. Starting in 2015, the NSD will be taking a look at how to implement later start times for high school kids.
NSD officials said they would be looking at changing the start times between the 2015 school year and the 2017 school year during the Jan. 13 school board meeting; with a resolution passed on Jan. 27 to ensure later start times are implemented no later than 2017.
“I’m pleased that all five of the board members seem to now realize there is overwhelming support from the community for healthy start times,” said Ken Smith, member of Parents Advocating Later Start (PALS) and co-founder and spokesperson for Northshore Citizens for Transparent School Finances (NCTSF). “This seems to be a change from prior meetings where three of the board members did not sense a community mandate or urgency to change.”
The community support was shown through a public survey that NSD parents and staff were urged to complete. According to survey results, of the 5,340 survey respondents 69-percent were in favor of shifting to later start times even though there would be some hurdles to overcome during the implementation process.
The change comes as part of a long battle from many parents and doctors who state that the early start times for high school students is damaging to their ability to learn and retain what’s been learned.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, studies have shown that teens and adolescents who don’t get enough sleep have physical and mental health problems, increased traffic accidents and lower academic performance when compared with those that do get enough sleep.
The reason for this sleep-problem is the change in a teenager’s Circadian sleep cycle when combined with students who start first period around 7:30 a.m. or earlier.
“Chronic sleep loss in children and adolescents is one of the most common – and easily fixable – public health issues in the U.S. today,” said pediatrician Judith Owens, MD, FAAP, lead author of the policy statement, “School Start Times for Adolescents,” published in the September 2014 issue of Pediatrics. “Studies have shown that delaying early school start times is one key factor that can help adolescents get the sleep they need to grow and learn.”
For some in the community, this was a spur to seek medical attention from their own doctors in order to ensure their children had the proper amount of rest.
“As a parent, I contacted our children’s doctor after the Academy of Pediatricians made their recommendation in August of 2014,” Smith said in an email. “We will follow their advice to not start our adolescents in school before 8:30 a.m. We are hopeful the district will make this an easy and equitable option for all families – including those who rely on the district busses to get to and from school.”
While the change in district’s start times isn’t immediate, this is the first step – along with the resolution passed on Jan. 27 that promises a change in start times no later than 2017 – towards the children in NSD obtaining the right amount of sleep.
“A resolution of the Board of Directors of Northshore School District No. 417, King and Snohomish Counties, Washington, directing a high school start time of no earlier than 8 a.m. by the 2017-18 school year in conjunction with the opening of North Creek High School, grade reconfiguration and associated boundary adjustments,” states Resolution No. 714 of the district.
Though the resolution doesn’t go into what will be effected by the implementation of the policy, the school board has given themselves more than enough time to figure out how to make the changes and still have the school district run smoothly.
“We also recognize that we have complex academic and operational challenges to navigate as we seek a solution that is fiscally responsible and doesn’t negatively impact academic programs and opportunities for students,” said Janet Quinn, board president, in a press release.
The issue of later start times for high schoolers is tied to many of the changes coming to the district, including construction of the new high school and elementary schools, implementation of boundary changes for all grades, along with grade reconfiguration for junior high and high school children.
“This is an embedded and complex issue,” Quinn said. “Our district is preparing for a great deal of change with the construction of a new high school and the implementation of grade reconfiguration and boundary adjustments in 2017. We have multiple factors to consider as we discuss school start times and provide clear direction to school district staff.”
To view all the survey results and comments from the NSD’s High School Start Time Survey, please visit: http://nsd.schoolwires.net/Page/8329.
