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A parent group is petitioning Ann Arbor Public Schools to move its high school start times to 8:30 a.m. or later in accordance with recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

(The Ann Arbor News file)

ANN ARBOR, MI - Ann Arbor Public Schools is again gathering feedback on the idea of later high school start times in response to a parent group requesting the change.

A local chapter of Start School Later recently petitioned the AAPS board of education to consider moving high school start times later next school year, based on research that says starting school later better aligns with teens' natural sleep cycles and is better for their health. The Start School Later online petition had 899 supporters as of Thursday, Dec. 1.

The school board's performance committee is planning to discuss the issue at a meeting on Dec. 21, and the school district has sent out a survey to parents to gather feedback on the idea.

"The board is very much aware of the mounting evidence that a later start time would be beneficial to adolescents," board secretary Andy Thomas wrote in November on behalf of the board of education to members of Start School Later. "We certainly want to do what is best for our students, and we are actively considering a change in start time for our high and middle schools.



"Not all students and parents are supportive of such a change, due to the potential effect on after-school activities," Thomas' email continued. "Many members of our community consider such activities to be an essential part of the educational experience. We also know that a change in start time would affect our transportation system, which could result in significantly increased costs."

AAPS formed a committee in 2012 to look at the possibility of changing school start times, and the group ultimately did not think there would be substantial benefits to students to starting the school day later.

The school district delayed its high school start times by five to 15 minutes going into the 2015-16 school year, so now the three traditional high schools start at 7:45 a.m.

In 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics officially recommended a school start time of 8:30 a.m. or later for middle and high school students, citing prior research and their own technical report.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agrees with the American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendation, saying students need 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep each night.

"Adolescents who do not get enough sleep are more likely to be overweight; not engage in daily physical activity; suffer from depressive symptoms; engage in unhealthy risk behaviors such as drinking, smoking tobacco and using illicit drugs; and perform poorly in school," states a report published by the CDC in 2015.

The research settles the matter for Colleen Seifert, Suzanne Perkins and Priti Shah, three mothers of Ann Arbor students involved in Start School Later, which officially formed as a local chapter in October. They want to see the high school start times moved to 8:30 a.m. or later.

"I, just as a parent, assumed that once the CDC made the recommendation ... I assumed that meant they would just follow it," said Perkins, a research fellow at the University of Michigan who has a PhD. combined in education and psychology. "At this point, we just feel very frustrated that we keep getting the same answers, that they as a school board aren't sure that the science is really solid."

There are many logistical issues to be considered with changing school start times: transportation, after-school activities including athletics and other extracurriculars and child care schedules, plus some students work part-time jobs after school.

"Certainly transportation is going to be a difficult issue to address. I'm less sympathetic to the argument about athletics and after-school activities," said Shah, a professor in U-M's Department of Psychology. "I think there are some potential solutions that haven't been considered. ... There are definitely things to work out in the community. ... I think it's complicated and I don't know what portion of the community would be negatively or positively affected by that."

Shah suggested offering students more flexibility in the first and last class periods of the day, so those who are able to could start their school day later.

The school district's high school start times survey intends to gauge the potential impact of later start times on families.

Perkins is glad to see the school district addressing the issue through the survey.

"Of course, rationally, we all know that your kid's experience shouldn't be as valuable to decision making as the review of the state of the science done by major medical organizations, but people are not always rational," she wrote in an email to The Ann Arbor News.

In addition to the health benefits of adequate sleep, Seifert also sees later start times as a safety issue. She pointed to the recent death of Community High School student Justin Tang, who was hit by a car at 7:20 a.m. Oct. 25 while crossing Fuller Road near Huron High School before dawn.

"It's just the idea that students will be in the crosswalk in the dark when they don't have to be," said Seifert, a professor of psychology in U-M's School of Education. "It's just overwhelming to me with all this evidence that this is bad for kids, why is this not more important than schedules for athletics or other things?"