minutes of sleep: They do not need to wake up early to wait
for a bus.

“Kids who live in underprivileged areas that don’t have access
to a parent or extra vehicles don’t have that choice. They have
to take the buses,” said Ibrahim.

If a disadvantaged student misses the bus, they often have no
other way of getting to school, which can lead to truancy.

These same students often work and work late into the night
to help support their families, said Ibrahim. With a later start
time, they’ll be able to catch up both in sleep and academics,
“putting them on equal footing.”
SUNG YOON JO/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images
There is also a community benefit. As start times get pushed
later, so do school end times. Many students end their school
day before 3 p.m., well before parents are home. This creates
a few-hours gap in which many students do not have access to
quality after-school programming and care.

While some students may be working, participating in after-
school activities and sports, or going to a local teen center or
club, many students are unsupervised. This could lead to an
increase in risky behaviors.

By shortening the gap in which school is released and parents
get home, the community sees a benefit in fewer teens
partaking in these behaviors.

“Here’s where the equity issue plays into it again,” said
Ibrahim. “For the privileged students who have access to
sports, after school activities or a ride home, there is not as
much of an impact for them. Underprivileged students may
not have access to those activities.”
This is seen especially during the summer months, and is
reflected by the summer achievement gap.

As school shifts to a later start time, the end time gets pushed
back as well. This creates a shorter gap from when students
leave school and when parents arrive home. There is also
community benefit, said Ibrahim, because students will be less
likely to be unsupervised or take part in risky behaviors.

But with later start times, comes the feasibility: How possible
is it? Logistics and cost becomes a growing concern for parents
and taxpayers.

Parents worry over how to get their children, who may be
in different school buildings, to and from school. Taxpayers
worry how this will affect transportation costs.

Look to our very own Montgomery County. After years
of debate, the Montgomery County Public School system
instituted delayed start times in the 2015-2016 school year,
continuing it into the 2017-2018 school year. Through
planning, they were able to stay budget neutral with the shift.

Both the middle and high schools shifted their start and end
times by 20 minutes.

Right now, explained MCPS public information and
web services director, Derek Turner, the results are
merely anecdotal.

“We’ve had lots of feedback from high school students and
their families that this has been a huge benefit for them, but
I don’t know we’ve matched that up to performance data.

We’re not at that point yet,” said Turner, who is the director of
public information for MCPS.

An unintended consequence was a longer school day for
elementary school students. Their start and end times were
“Because many schools start
before 8 a.m., students often
go to class sleep-deprived,
not fully awake and not
monkeybusinessimages/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images
ready to learn.”
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