2 The News-Press
February 15, 2018F
Metro area schools look to later start times Two of the largest districts consider making schedule shifts BY SHANNA FORTIER SFORTIER@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Research says that a later school start time positively impacts alertness, mental health, wellness and behavior in high school and middle school students, which means students are better prepared to learn. Some area school districts have already implemented later start times. Others, including the Jefferson County and Douglas County districts, are exploring the possibility of making the move. The most recent district to commit to the switch is Littleton Public Schools, whose board of education voted Dec. 14 for later school start times for middle and high school students beginning with the 2018-19 school year. The decision to change school start times followed months of research analysis, parent presentations and extensive opportunities for parent, student and staff input through public forums, open houses and surveys. “If we truly rely on what we believe is compelling scientific research, the question is: Why wouldn’t we do it?”
Transportation schedules are one challenge that school districts must consider when weighing possible changes in start times. SHANNA FORTIER said Brian Ewert, superintendent of Littleton Public Schools. “The research is pretty clear about how much sleep adolescents should get, and more important is when they sleep.” According to Dr. Lisa Meltzer, National Jewish Health adolescent sleep expert, melatonin is a hormone released by the brain that controls the internal clock and prepares the body for sleeping. But during puberty, the timing of the melatonin release is delayed by up to two hours. This makes it nearly impossible for teens to fall
‘A game-changer’ While Ewert said the shift will create some challenges, such as additional childcare needed for some SEE SCHOOLS, P10
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asleep early. This shift is also seen in the morning hours, showing that when a teen wakes at 6 a.m. that is equivalent of an adult waking at 4 a.m. An adolescent’s brain is biologically asleep at that time. A 2014 study by the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that middle and high schools delay start of classes to 8:30 a.m. or later. “Doing so will align school schedules to the biological sleep rhythms of adolescents, whose sleep-wake cycles
begin to shift up to two hours later at the start of puberty,” the report reads. A National Sleep Foundation poll found 59 percent of sixth- through eighth-graders and 87 percent of high school students in the U.S. were getting less sleep than the recommended 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep on a school night. “Chronic sleep loss in children and adolescents is one of the most common — and easily flexible — public health issues in the U.S. today,” wrote pediatrician Judith Owens, in a policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics. A 2013 study by the Hanover Research Institute also found that “school districts could increase student safety and boost adolescent academic success by instituting later start times for middle and high school students.” “It was courageous because it does create hardships,” Ewert said of the Littleton board’s decision. “But I absolutely believe it was the right decision to make and I applaud the board for putting into perspective why we’re doing this.”
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