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Study shows delayed secondary school start times improve grades

A newly published study by the journal Science Advances shows delaying school start times can improve children's health and academics.
Researchers believe teens are chronically sleep-deprived.
In Duval County, most high schools start at 7:15 a.m. In St. Johns County, middle schools start at 7:50 a.m.

Stephanie Johnson, whose child attends Englewood High School, said she’d like to see the time pushed back.

“The bus gets there, like, at 6:30, 6:45, so then the kids are getting up at 5 in the morning,” said Johnson. “No. 1, these are teenagers. I know we are trying to get them to prepare for the real world, but not all jobs start that early.”

According to Science Advances, a study based on high school students in Seattle showed that a newly delayed start time for the district was associated with a 4.5 percent increase in median grades. Attendance also improved.

“I agree, because in the morning, you have them up and they’re grumpy and you’re not going to be able to get the full mindset of the kid,” said Johnson.

In the late 80's, start times for high schools in Duval County were moved up to allow students to participate in work-study programs.

However, changing start times today comes with its challenges.

In St. Johns County, Chief of Community Relations Christina Langston tells Action News Jax there are no current discussions to change start times for middle schools.

“We do three different start times for our schools and capacity, resources and cost are all factors in those start times,” said Langston.

The media relations supervisor for the Duval County school district, Laureen Ricks, said in a statement:

“We agree that starting later in the day would be beneficial to high school students and even middle school students. However, our ability to provide many students with districtwide magnet transportation relies on an early high school start time to use high school campuses for bus hubs. Additionally, it allows for staggered schedules with elementary and middle schools. We have explored the option of starting later at the high school level but the increase in cost would disrupt our ability to offer equal access to all parents and students to magnet programs.”

Some, like Bernard Williams, believe the early wakeup call only prepares students for the real world.

“Study hard and get your butt up and go do what you’re supposed to,” said Williams.