- Target:
- Hopkins School District 270 Superintendent and School Board
- Region:
- United States of America
1. In 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statementhttp://www.cdc.gov/Other/disclaimer.html urging middle and high schools to modify start times to no earlier than 8:30 AM to aid students in getting sufficient sleep to improve their overall health. School start time policies are not determined at the federal or state level, but at the district or individual school level. Future studies may determine whether this recommendation results in later school start times.
2. Fewer than 1 in 5 middle and high schools in the U.S. began the school day at the recommended 8:30 AM start time or later during the 2011-2012 school year, according to data published today [August 6, 2015] in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Too-early start times can keep students from getting the sleep they need for health, safety, and academic success, according to the American Academy of Pediatricshttp://www.cdc.gov/Other/disclaimer.html.
CDC and U.S. Department of Education researchers reviewed data from the 2011-2012 Schools and Staffing Surveyhttp://www.cdc.gov/Other/disclaimer.html of nearly 40,000 public middle, high, and combined schools to determine school start times.
Schools that have a start time of 8:30 AM or later allow adolescent students the opportunity to get the recommended amount of sleep on school nights: about 8.5 to 9.5 hours. Insufficient sleep is common among high school students and is associated with several health risks such as being overweight, drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, and using drugs – as well as poor academic performance. The proportion of high school students who fail to get sufficient sleep (2 out of 3) has remained steady since 2007, according to the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Report.
“Getting enough sleep is important for students’ health, safety, and academic performance,” said Anne Wheaton, Ph.D., lead author and epidemiologist in CDC’s Division of Population Health. “Early school start times, however, are preventing many adolescents from getting the sleep they need.”
3. http://www.startribune.com/minn-study-later-school-start-boosts-grades-attendance-moods/249975531/
WHEREAS, the American Academy of Pediatrics (footnote 1) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that start times in U.S. middle and high schools start no earlier then 8:30 am; ( footnote 2);
WHEREAS, a 2014 University of Minnesota study of schools in 3 states showed later start times for high school students resulted in “a boost in attendance, test scores and grades in math, English, science and social studies for schools that shifted the school day later into the morning. Schools also saw a decrease in tardiness, substance abuse and symptoms of depression. Some even had a dramatic drop in teen car crashes;” (footnote 3);
WHEREAS, St. Louis Park High School starts at 8:20 am;
WHEREAS, Minnetonka middle schools start at 9:15 am and the high school at 8:00 am;
WHEREAS, Edina High School starts at 8:25 am;
WHEREAS, the Superintendent of the Wayzata School District, citing these recommendations, has proposed an 8:20 am high school start time for that district;
WHEREAS, academic achievement and the health of students should be the highest priority of the Hopkins School District;
WHEREAS, to remain competitive with neighboring school districts, Hopkins should alter its start times to be in line with theirs;
THEREFORE, we the undersigned parents and concerned citizens, propose that the Hopkins District School Board and Administration follow the recommendation of doctors and researchers and the lead of neighboring school districts and change the start time of junior high and high schools to between 8:20 and 8:30 am.
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The Change Hopkins High Start Time petition to Hopkins School District 270 Superintendent and School Board was written by Gillian Rosenquist and is in the category Education at GoPetition.