School Board Members Not Considering Later Start for High Schools; Cost Major Factor

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schoolbusCost may be the deciding factor in whether or not Prince William County Schools will follow the lead of neighboring Fairfax and Loudoun counties and start their high schools later in the morning.

The Fairfax County School Board decided, starting in September, their high schools will begin between 8 and 8:10 a.m and will dismiss students between 2:45 and 2:55 p.m.

According to Chairman Milt Johns of the Prince William School Board, his board has no plans to discuss school start times. However, he added, “I can’t rule out that it will become a discussion topic.”

If PWCS does discuss later start times for schools, Johns said he would be concerned about cost as well as the effect later dismissal times would have on evening activities.

“While I can certainly see the advantages of a later start for some students, I am concerned about the costs to make the change and the impact on athletes and students with after school jobs,” Johns said.

Cost appears to be his biggest concern for the school district as it could be substantial. Fairfax County Schools increased its budget by $5.4 million (over the course of two years) when their school board decided to implement 8-8:10 a.m. start times for its high school.

The increased costs include the purchasing or leasing of 27 new school buses, the hiring of new bus drivers, the paying for fuel and vehicle servicing and training for new employees. Moreover, many of these costs are ongoing, affecting the budget for the foreseeable future.

Director of Communication Services for Prince William County Phil Kavits said PWCS had not done a cost analysis on delaying high school start times. As a comparative, he says the Fairfax case can, at best, be considered a rough estimate.

“The Fairfax case provides some insight, but you cannot extrapolate from their costs to ours. The cost of buses is a factor, but their original start times are different from ours, as are the distances traveled. From what I have heard, Fairfax considered a number of different approaches and chose a specific one based on an array of important variables,” Kavits said.

While Kavits does not think the numbers are that comparable, he does believe “there is solid evidence to suggest it would be expensive.”

Johns notes that Fairfax costs are only comparable if we plan to add buses, which would likely mean not switching high school start times with elementary or middle school start times. However, if Prince William did switch starting times as a means of saving money, the plan could prove less popular with the residents.

In an informal survey of its 591 reader, 70 percent of Bristow Beat readers said they would prefer later start times for Prince William high schools. However, those numbers could change dramatically if it would mean requiring another group of students to start their school day before 7:30 a.m.

Brentsville District School Board member and Vice Chairman Gil Trenum is also concerned about the cost in making such as shift. He said the decision should be weighed against the school divisions' other priorities.

“There will be costs involved, which would take resources away from class size reductions, staff salary increases and other priorities, so the discussion really needs to be in the context of what our overall priorities are as a school division,” he said.

Trenum further pointed out that there is by no means unanimous agreement on whether parents want later start times for their high school students. He explained that when the School Board looked into changing start times a few years back, community response was mixed.

“From what I recall, the feedback that we got from various community members was very mixed- some strongly in favor and some strongly opposed," 
he said.

Bristow Beat found the same mixed response. Although those wanting to keep start times were in the minority, they felt strongly that early start times prepare students for the real world. Others said it is the responsibility of the parent to ensure that their children get to bed early enough to function properly during the school day.

Trenum said he would like to see and evaluate Fairfax County's experience before Prince William makes any changes.

Pediatricians Recommend Later Start Times

The Fairfax County School Board cited “clear health benefits for adolescents” as their reason for delaying start times.

“The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly supports the efforts of school districts to optimize sleep in students and urges high school and middle schools to aim for start times that allow students the opportunity to achieve optimal levels of sleep (8.5-9.5 hours) and to improve physical (eg, reduced obesity risk) and mental (eg. lower rates of depression) health, safety (eg. drowsy driving crashes), academic performance and quality of life.” Pediatrics 2014; 134:642-649

Pediatrics explains that Circadian Rhythms change after puberty making it so that teenagers do not get tired until late evening hours. However, teens still require approximately eight to nine hours sleep per night. According to Pediatrics, numerous studies show that the majority of U.S. teens get insufficient sleep, leaving them “chronically sleep deprived and pathologically sleepy.”

Additionally, according to the National Sleep Foundation poll, “insufficient sleep takes a toll on student performance.” It also places teenagers at greater risk for car crashes. Pediatricians also see a correlation between teen sleep habits and increased anxiety and mood disorders, increased use of stimulants, diabetes and obesity.

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