Since the 2021-2022 school year, Lexington High School’s school day has begun at 8:30 a.m. instead of 7:45 a.m. This shift continues to affect students and teachers alike. While some may feel that later school starting times have been beneficial to students, they have not been effective in ensuring students get more sleep and have also made it harder for students to balance after-school activities.
Because LHS teachers typically have longer commute distances, the later starting time can have a profound effect on their schedules, making it hard for them to balance school and family obligations.
“The biggest change for me is it’s harder for me to get some stuff done after school because I have to get home to my family, make dinner, [and] things like that. Whereas [students] could stay after for an hour and still get home. For us, after an hour, I’m getting home at 5:30 and it’s [already] dinnertime,” Shane Wilson, a history teacher at LHS, said.
Starting school earlier also allows students to have more time for after-school activities such as sports and clubs.
“There’s not much getting done before school because people are sleeping in. Whereas if we get our day started [earlier], then there’s more time available after school. Our students around LHS are extremely busy. So all those music lessons, SAT tutors, and jobs are all [getting pushed into] the evening,” Wilson said.
Consequently, students may have less time for homework and other responsibilities, making it harder for them to sleep at a reasonable time every night.
“Starting earlier lets them… go home earlier. Let’s say we were down to two o’clock instead of 3:10. That means that students can get done with sports by four instead of five. And in the winter, that difference can be pretty enormous. That means the difference between walking at night or walking in the afternoon, and is one safety concern,” Adi Gulati, a senior at LHS, said.
The later school start times have not been effective in helping students get more sleep.
“To be honest, I have not seen a change. I think students are just as tired when they show up at 8:30, as they did at 7:45,” Wilson said. “I don’t think we’re going to see a change in how awake the teenagers are until the phones are retired.”
Later dismissal times make it harder for students and teachers to manage after-school responsibilities. Especially with the use of phones and social media, students are unable to prioritize their limited study time, thus impacting their sleep.
Overall, the factors supporting the original system of starting school earlier outweigh the current system of starting later.
