Later Start Times for School

> https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/af/dd/dd/afdddd164b88a69d031738073ffd24b6.jpg My school board voted unanimously to “help middle and high schools that want to start classes later.” Based on the recommendations made by the American Academy of Pediatrics, their study found that starting school 8:30 am or later would improve the health of teenage students by aligning school schedules to their biological sleep rhythms. Many parents are in favor of the later start time to give their children more time to participate in extracurricular activities and keep up with homework. They believe the later start time can provide more energy and alertness for the student. Some of the challenges to a later start time is the logistics of transportation for students and if the district has enough resources to allocate for the differing start and later end times. Also, for working parents or parents that have other children in elementary or middle school might have challenges with pick up and drop off. As a teacher at a high school, I prefer the early start time of 7:30 AM. Teenagers love to stay up late and I think giving them extra time to sleep in and start the day later is not going to make that huge of a difference in academic performance. We are only looking at about 1-hour difference in time. I think it is a reality of life to have to get up in the morning and make it to work on time. I do not agree with adjusting the start time for middle and high school students. I think it is good preparation for the real world. No job is going to adjust their hours to accommodate their employees, why should we do this when they are so close to becoming adults? What are your thoughts on having later start times for middle and high school students to accommodate their biological sleep rhythms?