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