My school district is debating changes to school start times. The argument is that high school students do better when they start later in the day, since most of them stay up later at night. My children are not in high school yet, but this will still have an impact on them.
That’s because a change in high school start times could mean a change in elementary and junior high start times to adjust bus schedules. In my case, plan A calls for a 7:45 a.m. start time and plan B calls for a 9 a.m. start time. Right now, we’re at about 8:35.
For us, I could see it work both ways. During the winter, when it’s dark in the morning, my kids tend to sleep in. There have been at least three times this year, since January, that my son has been late to school because we just couldn’t get it all together and out the door. With that in mind, a 9 a.m. start time would work just fine. However, it would get me to work later, and my daughter’s day care absolutely ends at 5:30 p.m. I would be pushing it to get a full 8 hours of work in each day unless I just stay tied to my desk (though I write this as I’m eating lunch at my desk).
An earlier time may be a struggle at first, but I think it’s the better option for my family - and perhaps others. That’s because most days - the kids arise quite early. I don’t know how, but in the summer they’re up between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. Today, it was 6:45. When that happens, we would have little problem getting to school by 7:45 a.m. if I ignored the dishes, the pick up in the kitchen and prepping dinner for that night (all of which usually delay me in the morning). And, truth be told, if they get up at 6:30, but don’t have to be at school until 9 a.m., what on earth are they going to do to keep busy? They’ll pull out toys and books and colors and be distracted and we would likely end up late anyway!
A decision is a few weeks away. But I’ve put my opinion out there for the earlier time.
