School Board Members on Board with Later HS Start Times in CNY

A new survey says over half of all New York school board members support a later start time for high school. Should CNY high schools make the switch?

Remember your childhood? When you were in grade school, you had no trouble hopping out of bed for Saturday morning cartoons. On the other hand, as a teen, sleeping until noon on the weekends wasn't unheard of. It's just part of the natural sleep cycle, and how they change as we age.

The younger you are, the more readily your body gets up early. The majority of schools are set up in exactly the opposite way: elementary schools start almost an hour after high schools. For example, in my son's school district, New Hartford, school starts at the grade school at 8:50am. At the high school, the first class begins at 7:45am.

Kids who don't get enough sleep can suffer from obesity, depression, and perform poorly in school. Even the American Academy of Pediatrics says middle and high school days should start after 8:30am. A study that looked at the impact of a later start time on students found that kids performed better in school, reported less depression, and had better attendance.

Now, with more that half of all school board members in support of a change, what do you think?