Impact of Later School Start Time on After-School Activities

The California Legislative Information alleges that the new California Senate Bill No. 328, permits high schools to begin academics no earlier than 8:30 am, furthermore, it requires middle schools to commence no earlier than 8:00 am. The repercussions from this settlement will be extensive for the California school districts. Currently, Benicia High School begins at 8:00 am, and the Benicia Middle School starts at 8:30 am. The principal of Benicia High, Mrs. Kleinschmidt, shared with me that Benicia High School has been starting at 8:00 am for over 25 years. There is an interminable list of issues that will arise with this bill. Some include parents stressing with the burden of dropping their kids off later and arriving to work at a specific time. This will also restrict after-school activities to begin later in the day. Another concern that emerges is rotating the middle and elementary school start times to comply amongst the high school. Overall, the inconvenience out rules the positives.

One of the issues that come to mind when contemplating this new enactment is parents and transportation. Parents already agonize trying to develop their work agendas around their children. When the state of California forces families to modify their schedule, complications manifest; a household’s schedule must reconstruct. In an article by Leigh-Ann Morgan, she pronounces, “If school districts change start times to 8:00 or 8:30 am, parents will not be able to drive their kids to school and still report to work on time.” (Pros and Cons of Later School Start Times). After questioning two freshmen, Madison Nelson and Kenna Allen, they both assume they will have no way to be at the school on time if courses initiate at 8:30 am. Madison maintains that this will stress her out to find someone to carpool among and feel safe. This is not accommodating to scholars and their families. Public transportation, such as buses, will additionally have prominent adjustments. “School districts that decide to adopt an early start time can save up to 30% on their transportation costs,” ConnectUS claims (15 Major Pros and Cons of Early School Start Times). The same study also confirms that when the Lubbock Independent School District updated their start times to undertake before 8:00 am they preserved, “more than $1 million in 2017,” (15 Major Pros and Cons of Early School Start Times). Saving money is particularly critical to schools and taxpayers. In a newsletter from Benicia’s Unified School District superintendent, Dr. Charles Young, he brazenly confesses that “Like many districts in our state, we are experiencing a budget challenge,” (Superintendent’s Newsletter). When the schools in California shift to a later commencement time, districts will be dispursing even more money on transportation expenses. This spirals into never-ending debt and causes even higher taxes for the citizens of California. This bill is a malicious idea. Not only will a later schooling time cost higher for transportation, but it will also change the route for pickups. “School districts w[ill] need to delay start times for the elementary schools or invest in hiring additional bus drivers to transport the high school students,” Leigh-Ann Morgan, (Pros and Cons of Later School Start Times). This will engender an ample inconvenience toward the bus drivers and students. Limiting California school’s commencement time to 8:30 am will put a bigger burden on students, parents, and faculty. This bill will be counterproductive.

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Another consequential quandary that will arise is the timing of after-school activities. After emailing Mrs. Kleinschmidt about her thoughts on the bill, she informs me that on a regular schedule day, They will dismiss BHS at 3:35 pm when the bill is put into effect. The owner of Tip Tap Toe Performing Arts, Nicole Ceccarelli-Core, reveals, “I will have to change the times for dance class for the older students for later in the evening.” By making dance sessions later, this pressures the students’ day notably further into the evening. Ms.Ceccarelli-Core did humor, “...that an early morning class could be an option.” An early class could be capable of making up for the later night classes. This will cause scholars to rise earlier than they currently do. Early classes will not be practical for students. “Sports schedules can be adjusted sometimes, although the winter months make that a challenge…” declares the editor-in-chief at ConnectUS, (15 Major Pros and Cons of Early School Start Times). Outdoor exercises have to make their vigours practice times to comply with the amount of light. Sports practices, such as baseball, will have to begin at the same time because of how dark it gets. This will leave students with less time to handle academics. Another concern is students that have a job and extracurricular activities. These learners are scarcely capable of balancing everything as it is. If they have a limited time after school, this may prompt a decrease in grades or force them to give up one or the other. After emailing a current freshman, Paris Wibbon, she responds; “During softball season I do field prep, so when classes began later I will have to leave right after school, but if the school stays the same I can have time to go home...before going to the field for the rest of the night.” Nicole Ceccarelli-Core addressed that “...the difficulties with high school students getting out later is that doing two activities after school makes it nearly impossible.” Beginning later will supply students with less time overall. I began questioning students whether they want high school to begin earlier and get out earlier or start later and get out later. Out of 15 students from freshman to junior level, every scholar responds saying, that they would rather get out earlier and commence earlier; adding it would provide them more time to get things done. This demonstrates how starting school later will cause a debacle with after-school activities.

Not only will moving the opening times present issues at the high school level, but it will additionally generate difficulties at the lower grades. Since Benicia is a minuscule town, school times have to be separated because of traffic issues. “We will need to adjust [drop-off times] as well to address parent drop-off and city traffic flow,” states Dr. Charles Young. Benicia Middle School, Benicia High School, and Mary Farmar Elementary School are all within a 1.5-mile gamut of each other. It is not permissible to have the schools start within a 5-minute period of one another. Dr. Chales Young informs me that Benicia Middle School will interchange times with Benicia High School. Two middle school students, Coleton Pult and Carson Smith say they will not go to bed any earlier but will get up earlier in the morning. This implies they will be losing sleep. High schoolers will be gaining a maximum of 30 minutes of extra rest. These middle schoolers are being held beneath some high schoolers. If times are kept as it is, there will be no disputes. Students at all schools embrace the timing as it is now. The Centers for Disease Control claims that in 2015 the average public school start time was 8:03 am. Benicia High School is right on track with this standard. This reveals how incompetent the bill is. This arrangement should be up to the school districts, not the state. Having to move the other school times around is a hassle and takes sleep away from younger learners.

Although researchers confirm that students are sleep deprived, there are alternative ways to ease this. Students need to be responsible enough to hit the hay at an appropriate time. Parents and guardians need to implement this habit. This may not solve the sleep epidemic, but it can aid students to deduce the importance without disturbing the whole state’s calendar. Madison Nelson tells me about a rule she has in place for herself. “If I do not have my homework done by a certain time, it’s on me, not the school’s schedule, and I go to bed.” Ms. Nelson understands that procrastinating will merely keep her up. People in support of the act say it yields more shut-eye for teachers. After conversing with a History teacher at Benicia High School, Mr. Earp, on whether he will use this later start time to his benefit; he tells me no. He will proceed to report at school at 6:55 am as he currently does. This indicates our teachers will be losing slumber. These people show up every day to challenge the minds of generations to come. They have to deal with numerous types of students, but still, discover a way to create relationships among them. They are mentors, role models, and coaches. They put so much in and get such a limited amount out. Now, they will have more limited time out of school to be beside family and sleep. This bill focuses on sleep; sleep, only for high schoolers. High schoolers are proven to need more sleep than anyone. However, we can not completely disregard the additional ages, older and younger. The California senate turns a blind eye to the chain reaction that will betide when this becomes put in place. This reaction will negatively affect teachers, parents, sports, and whole communities.

This bill will not influence California schools until the 2022-2023 school year. That does not imply it is not appropriate to begin challenging the act. This bill will stress our parents and raise prices for transportation. Sports, clubs, and arts will shift later into the night. Students in lower grades will wake up earlier. It will negatively influence instructors. These 30 minutes are not worth it to the high schoolers. These 30 minutes are not worth it to the middle schoolers. These 30 minutes are not worth it to the parents and teachers. These 30 minutes are an inconvenience. These 30 minutes are like a gnat, a pain in the ass. These 30 minutes throw everything off balance; the balance that has been in place for 25 plus years. There is no reason to mutilate it now. The state of California is wasting their time writing and passing bills that have very sparse effects and importance to the students of its state. California should better satisfy its time trying to tackle the real problems consuming our society. As the general public, we need to get the state to recognize these anxieties and repeal the ineffective bill.

Works Cited

1. California, Senate. “SB-328 Pupil Attendance: School Start Time.” California Legislative Information, 4 Oct. 2019, 9:00 pm, leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB328.
2. Chief, Editor in. “15 Major Pros and Cons of Early School Start Times.” ConnectUS, 18 Sept. 2019, connectusfund.org/15-major-pros-and-cons-of-early-school-start-times.
3. “English Honors Essay Questions.” Received by Brianna Kleinschmidt, English Honors Essay Questions, 11 Feb. 2020.
4. “English Honors Essay Questions.” Received by Dr. Charles F. Young, English Honors Essay Questions, 11 Feb. 2020.
5. Morgan, Leigh Ann. “Pros and Cons of Later School Start Times.” Later School Times, 2012, www.everettsd.org/cms/lib07/WA01920133/Centricity/Domain/2847/Later%20School%20Times.pdf.
6. Received by Kenna R. Allen, 10 Feb. 2020.
7. Received by Madison M. Nelson, 10 Feb. 2020.
8. Received by Paris Wibbon, 10 Feb. 2020.
9. “Riley Pult Interview Questions.” Received by Nicole Ceccarelli-Core, Riley Pult Interview Questions, 5 Feb. 2020.
10. “Schools Still Start Too Early.” Despite Proven Benefits, Starting School Later Remains a ‘Tough Sell,’ Centers For Disease Control, 2015, neatoday.org/2015/09/20/despite-proven-benefits-starting-school-later-is-still-a-tough-sell/.
11. Walker, Tim. “Despite Proven Benefits, Starting School Later Remains a 'Tough Sell'.” NEA Today, 23 Nov. 2015, neatoday.org/2015/09/20/despite-proven-benefits-starting-school-later-is-still-a-tough-sell/.
12. Young, Dr. Charles F. “BHS Latest News.” Benicia High School, 22 Nov. 2017, bhs.beniciaunified.org/2017/11/22/superintendents-newsletter/.