Should High School Start Later In Lower Bucks County?

Teenagers aren’t lazy when they say they want to sleep in. High schoolers wanting to sleeping more than a few hours a night is natural and based in science, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Getting the recommended 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep per night can be hard when students have to be up very early for the start of high school. The lack of sleep can cause problems for students, experts claim.

Over the past few years, a movement to delay the start times of high schools across the country has taken root and even been enacted in some districts.

The discussion surrounding what time high school starts got attention at the Thursday evening Pennsbury School Board meeting.

The issue is one that has received more attention in Pennsbury in recent weeks. During Thursday’s meeting, the public and members of the board spoke on the issue.

Michelle Crunkleton, one of the leaders for the Bucks County chapter of Start School Later, explained a little bit of the rationale for the movement during the meeting’s public participation segment.

As kids become teenagers, their internal clocks shift. Their biology tells them to stay up late and sleep longer. Adding to the fact that teenagers require between eight and 10 hours of sleep every night, the early start that middle and high schools typically employ can wreak havoc on a growing student, Crunkleton said.

The American Academy of Pediatrics said teenagers’ natural circadian rhythms make if difficult for them to get to sleep before 11 p.m. That means current high school start times don’t jive with students getting the recommended amount of sleep.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey of youth in 2015 revealed that 73 percent of high school students sleep less than 8 hours per school night and 43 percent sleep for less than 6 hours.

Government medical experts wrote in their study that teens who do not get the proper amount of sleep are at higher risk of using tobacco, alcohol or illegal drugs. They also face higher rates of being overweight or depressed.

The more immediate risks have to do with driving while tired, ability to pay attention in class and emotional conditions that come with lack of sleep, according to the National Center for Health Research.

“There is not one system in the body that is not negatively impacted by sleep deprivation,” Crunkleton told the school board.

Crunkleton first became aware of the cause when she noticed the impact of sleep deprivation in her own high school-aged children.

“It’s a major problem that I think a lot of people aren’t aware of,” Crunkleton said.

According to the Maryland-based nonprofit Start School Later, the American Academy of Pediatrics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and American Medical Association have all released recommendations that middle and high schools start no earlier than 8:30 a.m.

As of 2015, about 18 percent of high schools started no earlier than 8:30 a.m., the CDC noted.

Since the 1950s and 1960s, many high school start times moved from between 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. to much earlier in the morning, according to the National Center for Health Research.

Currently, classes at Pennsbury High School starts at 7:20 a.m.

Board members discussed the issue and discussed how the district can proceed moving forward.

Board member Debra Wachspress first brought the issue to the attention of the board, bringing up research that has been done in support of a later starting time for school.

“This conversation has been going on nationally,” Wachspress said, mentioning the local research that has been done on the issue as well. “This is a serious issue, and I fully support starting school later.”

The board said they are committed to looking into the issue and consulting community stakeholders before anything final is done.

“There are a lot of things going on with this and we are looking at every avenue,” said Board President Jacqui Redner. “We have to go through all of the studies and finances, which is a big issue.”

At the very least, the board explained, more buses and bus drivers would likely be necessary to accommodate a later high school start time.

“We’re really only interested in doing things to help our students,” said Superintendent Dr. William Gretzula.

A token gesture, like moving the starting time at the high school back 15 minutes would not be acceptable, he said.

One solution the district is not considering, Gretzula said, is a simple flip of the elementary and high school start times.

The Bristol Borough, Bristol Township or Neshaminy school districts have not moved forward any motions over the past year to delay the start time for high school.