Sleep-deprived Ann Arbor teens who dread waking up by 7 a.m. or earlier for school each weekday could have reason to rejoice next year.

Ann Arbor school officials are considering a later start for high schools.

Ann Arbor Board of Education Secretary Andy Thomas said the board's performance committee will examine the issue in March.

"There's a lot of moving parts in this consideration," he said. "There is a growing sentiment that we do need to make an adjustment for high school start times. I think we are going to see something come out of it this time."

Such a change would be good news for Pioneer High School freshman Eleanor Davis, 14.

"I'm up so late doing homework, it's hard to get up to go to school," she said. "Even starting an hour later would help a lot. People could concentrate better."

Davis said she's up at 7 a.m. and goes to bed between 11:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. each night.

She described her schedule as busy, as she plays French horn in band and is on the lights crew at the theater guild. Although she's doesn't have lights crew every day, it's a 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. commitment.

Although the school board considered changing start times two years ago, the members ultimately decided the benefits were unclear.

The case for a later start

Colleen Seifert, an Ann Arbor parent, believes there is now sufficient evidence to show benefits for a later high school start and petitioned the board to look at start times again.

The American Academy of Pediatrics released a policy statement in August, saying teens who do not get enough sleep have physical and mental health problems, an increased risk of car accidents and a decline in academic performance.

"Chronic sleep loss in children and adolescents is one of the most common - and easily fixable - public health issues in the U.S. today," said Dr. Judith Owens, MD, lead author of the association's policy statement.

The statement recommended high schools not start before 8:30 a.m.

Ann Arbor's high schools start at 7:30 a.m. and 7:40 a.m., the middle schools at 8:10 a.m. and elementary schools at 8:45 a.m.

"The research is clear that adolescents who get enough sleep have a reduced risk of being overweight or suffering depression, are less likely to be involved in automobile accidents, and have better grades, higher standardized test scores and an overall better quality of life," Owens said. "Studies have shown that delaying early school start times is one key factor that can help adolescents get the sleep they need to grow and learn."

Seifert spoke at the Nov. 19 school board meeting to request the board examine the new studies.

More than 120 people have signed a Change.org petition Seifert created requesting the board examine school start times.

But not everyone agrees.

Daniel Rubenstein, a Community High School parent, doesn't think a change is necessary.

With the block schedule in place at Community High, he said, his daughter has a chance to sleep in twice a week before her 9:30 a.m. start.

Not all students, however, have the same schedule, Rubenstein said.

"I think the start time is fine the way it is," he said. "I haven't noticed any problems."

Pioneer sophomore Kira Hettmer, 15, also said she's fine with the schedule, but she knows other students who would like a later start time.

Moving the start time back, she pointed out, would then move activities later in the day.

Health and school performance

Dr. Ronald Chervin, a neurology professor at the University of Michigan and director of the Sleep Disorders Clinic, said it's in everyone's best interest to bite the bullet and change the starting times for schools.

"Everything is more important than sleep and that attitude has to change," Chervin said.

Teens need approximately 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep per night, Chervin said, although that figure changes for each individual.

"Teenagers are in this country are in a precipitous course of declining sleep as they get older," he said.

By the end of high school, teens are getting 7 hours of sleep or less per night, he said.

Sleep deprivation has a negative impact on school performance, increases risk of car accidents and impacts a host of health problems such as hypertension, diabetes risk and obesity, Chervin said.

"Sleep has tentacles to almost every part of health and every organ and every part of the body," he said. "Sleep is as important to good health as nutrition and exercise."

Obstacles

In 2012 when the Ann Arbor school board discussed the start time, a committee found moving start times would increase transportation costs because it would likely mean more buses and more drivers.

Scott Menzel, Washtenaw Intermediate School District, said in building Ypsilanti Community Schools, the administrative team looked at modifying the start schedule to begin school at 8 a.m.

"Recognizing even when we were building a new system, we found unintended challenges relating to how it impacted the whole system," he said.

Ypsilanti Community High School starts at 8 a.m., and the STEMM Academy starts at 7:50 a.m.

Starting elementary school before high school poses difficulty for the high school students who are charged with watching their younger siblings, he said.

If elementary school starts after high school with a late start time, Menzel said, young students aren't getting home until after 5 p.m. and are exhausted by the end of the day.

Some of the factors, such as students' sleep schedules, are out of the district's control, he said.

"I think in an ideal world it would be great to shift the time," he said. "We're not going to stop all the problems because there still are going to be kids who don't (get) enough sleep."

But Seifert believes the district should be able to figure out a schedule for transportation and after-school activities.

"This is a case where there is medical evidence," she said. "A percentage of students are preventing a change that would be better for all students."

That change could be coming as early as next fall, Thomas said.

The Ann Arbor school board now is rebidding the transportation contract, he said, and start times will be a part of the process.

Thomas said an option is to flip the optional seventh-hour class at Huron and Pioneer high schools with the first hour, allowing 80 percent of students who don't take the optional course to come in later.

Ann Arbor schools would have to figure out a different plan for Skyline and Community high schools, which have different schedules, he said.

"What Ann Arbor schools are all about is offering choices," he said. "That could include start times."

Lindsay Knake is the K-12 education reporter for The Ann Arbor News. Follow her on twitter or contact her at 989-372-2498 or lknake@mlive.com. Find all Washtenaw County K-12 education stories on MLive.com.