Getting A’s with More Z’s

The fight for later school starts has backing from doctors and statistics.

By Renee Sklarew

Lev Dalgachov/Shutterstock

In Loudoun County, public high schools begin at 9 a.m. High schools in Arlington and Alexandria Counties start after 8 a.m. Yet for more than a decade, parent advocates have failed to convince Fairfax County to implement later start times for secondary schools. Most Fairfax high school students begin their first class at 7:20 a.m.

The most compelling objection is over cost—moving thousands of students on buses to elementary, middle and high schools is an expensive, complicated process. But even with a persuasive campaign that outlined a cost-effective way to start high school later, Fairfax County declined to make sweeping changes.

Undaunted by the stalemate, two women remain on the forefront of the fight for later start times—Board of Education member Sandy Evans and SLEEP founder Phyllis Payne. The duo manages a website called sleepinfairfax.org where families can sign a petition in support of later start times for secondary schools.

Payne explains why this issue won’t go away: “We hear stories about students dropping out of high school, because they simply couldn’t function with the current schedule. We’ve heard about students who end up in truancy court. Yet no one mentioned they should speak to their pediatrician about the trouble they’re having waking up in time to get to school. Many children and families are made miserable by the very early start times that prevent teen students from getting the sleep they need to be healthy, happy and able to learn.”

Advocates point to research from the medical community that shows students with later start times acquire significant health benefits. The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) in Arlington maintains that adolescents who start their classes at 8:30 a.m. or later gain five hours more sleep per week. The result, according to NSF: Students are tardy less often, have increased cognitive ability, and are better able to cope with stress.

Pulmonologist Philip Fuller is the medical director of the Sleep-Awake Center at Fredericksburg’s Mary Washington Hospital and has practiced sleep medicine for 20 years. When asked about the benefits of later start times for adolescents, Fuller says, “A good deal of research shows sleep is very important for memory and learning. The evidence fairly strongly suggests that later start times are better. Inherently, the majority of kids with a later start will get more sleep, which is beneficial to grades as well as being safer.”

Fuller cites a study reported by the 2010 American Academy of Sleep Medicine comparing two school systems in the Virginia Tidewater area. High school students with a 45-minute-later start time had significantly fewer traffic accidents than the earlier risers.

The annual Fairfax County Youth Survey included questions about sleep in 2009. The results proved high school students are sleep deprived—37 percent of Fairfax County 12th graders sleep six or less hours per night. Sleep deprivation is fueled by several factors, including early start times, use of electronics, homework load, extracurricular activities and part-time jobs.

Sleep deprivation is also linked to depressive moods, obesity and difficulty concentrating. So, it’s no surprise that parents and health professionals continue the fight for later start times. “Change is hard, and seems even harder for a large bureaucracy,” comments Payne. “But having school schedules that actually work for students, instead of hindering their progress, is critical.”

(November 2011)

Tags: Northern Virginia, Northern Virginia Magazine, NoVA