This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

Student Sleep Issue Keeps Resurfacing, Survey Shows

While the idea stalled in a school board session two years ago, a new survey shows that many people still want later start times.

Education reform advocates applauded the early results of a Fairfax County Public Schools online survey in which respondents overwhelmingly supported a later starting time for the county’s 25 high schools.

The last week, invited residents to take part in an online discussion of the school system's priorities. As of Friday, the most popular topic by far was the issue of school bell schedules, with over 2,000 votes (in at least three separate threads) . The next most popular thread, with over 500 votes, proposed restoring and adding honors classes to the curriculum. It is the first time that the county has conducted such a survey. 

Phyllis Payne, co-founder of the Start Later for Excellence in Education Proposal (SLEEP) organization, said she wasn’t surprised by the survey results. She pointed to a county health youth survey from last year that showed 90 percent of county high school students weren’t getting enough sleep. 

Find out what's happening in Burkewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“I have always believed that there is huge support for this in the community,” Payne said. “The later start times are appropriate for students and they need it. Right now, we have a system in place that runs counter to the best interest of the kids.” 

District high schools start at 7:20 a.m., which means than many students leave their front doors before 5:45 a.m. Schools around the country, including those in Loudoun County, have adopted the later times, which is what SLEEP has endorsed since 2004. Over the past year, the issue has around the county.

Find out what's happening in Burkewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In 2009, the board rejected the issue, citing costs and logistical complications in making all 5,000 bus routes work. There were also questions about whether pushing the times back would hurt after-school activities like high school sports. 

However, Payne noted that the board rejected a SLEEP plan which showed shifting to a later starting time for the high schools was both viable and budget-neutral. 

“If this was done properly, this change should save money,” Payne said. “What we have now actually costs money. In reality, we are paying for student remediation that would not be necessary if we didn’t have all those sleepy students.”

Paul Regnier, schools spokesman, said there was no timeline for implementing the suggestions the district has received. The online discussion is meant to be an open and ongoing dialogue with the community, he said. 

“If we come up with good ideas, the superintendent will be taking them to school board,” Regnier said. “We are looking way ahead and for outside-the-box thinking of how to best prepare our kids for the future.”

Kathy Smith, the Sully District’s representative to the school board, said she viewed the online discussion as a good starting point in an evolving dialogue to find ways to improve the district’s schools.

“It’s always useful to get the input of the public,” Smith said. “What we what to do is have a richer dialogue with the community and business leaders on how to do a better job educating our children in the future." 

As for the starting time issue, she said she doesn’t expect the board to take it up immediately.

“Nothing is going to happen right now,” Smith said. “But, it’s not an issue that’s going to go away.”

Should school start later in the day? Or should times stay the same?

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?