We need a law to enforce later school start times

The West Hartford Board of Education last week passed a resolution asking the General Assembly to mandate later school start times across Connecticut. Such a law would improve student health and academic performance, and legislators should support it.

This resolution is in keeping with recommendations by the American Medical Association’s statement as well as the CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics and many other national organizations.

Due to changes in circadian rhythms that occur at puberty, the majority of teens will not be able to fall asleep before around 11 p.m. Because they need 8-10 hours of sleep, making them start school before 8:30 a.m. leads to chronic sleep deprivation.

There is considerable evidence that unhealthy early start times contribute to teen mental health problems, including ideas of suicide, anxiety, depression, and impulsive behaviors like substance abuse. Early start times lead to greater numbers of teen car accidents and school sports injuries. When schools move to healthier, later start times, graduation rates go up and truancy goes down. It seems obvious that we should follow the recommendations of these national health organizations and not have any middle or high schools in Connecticut start before 8:30 a.m.

One West Hartford board member voted against the resolution to move to healthy start times. “There’s an old saying: If it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” he said. He went on to explain that West Hartford students already perform at an impressive level, winning national awards and consistently ranked highly.

Despite the fact that even high-achieving students could experience better health and greater safety, he is ignoring findings that early start times harm our particularly vulnerable students disproportionately. We in Connecticut must do the best by all our students, not just those with the resources to support high achievement.

Students from historically disenfranchised communities may experience challenges or stressors that leave them at greater risk for poor sleep. Two recent studies bring this issue into focus.

Seattle recently moved its school start times one hour later. Researchers were able to directly compare student performance before and after the move and looked at two high schools. The first study demonstrated several important findings. First, students saw an increase in time spent sleeping. In other words, they did not just go to bed later. Second, grades improved. Third, attendance improved. Importantly, these improvements were greatest for the high school with the greater number of economically disadvantaged students and students of color. The effect on morning attendance was seen only at this high school.

The second study looked at 30,000 students in North Carolina, comparing schools with start times before 8:30 a.m. to those with later start times. The researchers found that later start times were associated with positive student engagement outcomes (reduced suspensions, higher course grades), especially for economically disadvantaged students. Interestingly, the schools with the earliest start times were disproportionately urban schools, and it is particularly disheartening that some Hartford schools moved to earlier start times this year.

In addition, among low- to middle-income families, black male students report getting the least amount of sleep among groups of students, which suggests that black male adolescents may be the most vulnerable to the negative consequences of chronic sleep deprivation from early start times.

Taken together, these studies highlight the impact that later start times will likely have in Connecticut on closing the academic gap and providing support to all our students, especially our most vulnerable ones.

Later in the evening, at the same meeting, the board of education received a report from teachers and students at REACH Alternative High School. REACH is designed for students who are struggling with attendance, academics or social issues. Three students from REACH attended the meeting to testify that, because of REACH, they were now successful students.

When a board member asked the first student, “How was your experience at REACH different from your experience at the West Hartford public high school?” The student’s answer, echoing others, was clear: “Definitely the later start times.”

Sarah A. Raskin, Ph.D., is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Trinity College. Janée Woods Weber is a social justice advocate. Maria D. LaRusso is an assistant professor at the University of Connecticut specializing in human development and psychology.