By now, the is clear: making school start times later, even by an hour, gives teenagers the opportunity to wake up at a time that better aligns with their biological sleep rhythms. Start time changes, in turn, have proven to result in better physical and mental health, improved academics, and fewer teen-driving accidents.
It seems like a no-brainer to make these changes.
As it is, though, countless teens continue to sleepwalk through their first period classes, which in some districts begin as early as 7:30 a.m.鈥攁n hour earlier than 8:30 a.m., the start time recommended by the . Why?
In countless cases, bus transportation is to blame.
The complexity and cost of rerouting bus services are among the top reasons that keep districts from changing to later start times for older students. There鈥檚 no disputing that shifting bus services throughout a district can present a big challenge鈥攐ne large urban district turned to hiring math experts from the to develop algorithms to create more efficient bus routes and select new start times that better align with teens鈥� sleep needs.
Even so, every district鈥檚 logistical challenges vary, and the perceived obstacles associated with adjusting bus services don鈥檛 always materialize, say advocates for later school start times for middle and high school students.
鈥淪ometimes, when you dig into the transportation piece, you鈥檙e going to find opportunities to make your system more efficient and better serve the students,鈥� said Phyllis Payne, implementation director for , a nonprofit that advocates for school districts nationwide to change to later start times for middle and high schools.
The following four strategies can support districts as they consider a shift in bus services to accommodate later start times, say experts.
1. Be open to challenging perceived obstacles
鈥淵ou could have someone [at the district level] say, 鈥溾�業鈥檓 not going to monkey with this. It鈥檚 a lot of work,鈥欌�� said Kyla Wahlstrom, senior research fellow at the University of Minnesota鈥檚 College of Education and Human Development. Formerly a teacher and principal before becoming a researcher of innovations in education, Wahlstrom has studied perceived obstacles associated with changing bus schedules.
Resistance to putting kids of all ages on buses is one. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no reason, other than parents fear their kindergarten kids will hear swear words, that it can鈥檛 be done,鈥� Wahlstrom said. 鈥淩ural districts do it all the time.鈥�
Another misperception she points to is the assumption that most high school students are taking the bus. 鈥淚t turns out that the number of high school kids riding buses is significantly less than students in elementary school,鈥� Wahlstrom said. About 37 percent of elementary school students routinely ride a bus to school, compared to an estimated 24 percent of high school students, according to the .
Then there鈥檚 the perceived extra cost. 鈥淧eople who haven鈥檛 looked at all the other alternatives make an assumption that we have to add buses, and that it鈥檚 going to cost the district half a million dollars,鈥� Wahlstrom said. 鈥淭here are a lot of districts that have made this change with a zero cost.鈥�
Case in point: the MIT researchers who won Boston Public School鈥檚 crowdsourcing national competition. The Boston district challenged contestants to create a better way to design bus routes to improve efficiency and realign school start times. Their mathematical not only found a way to improve bus route efficiency and realign school start times; it would also likely result in $5 million in annual savings if implemented.
2. Algorithms are very helpful. But stay focused on people鈥檚 needs
Not even the most clever algorithms can solve the potential challenge of satisfying competing interests of all players involved. 鈥淎s one person [involved in a district transition] said to me, 鈥楾hey鈥檙e not Fed Ex packages; they鈥檙e people,鈥欌�� Wahlstrom said.
Even researchers acknowledge this. 鈥淎lgorithms can help a lot; however, it鈥檚 still people we are talking about. These are tough choices, from communicating to families to making sure that everybody鈥檚 heard. An algorithm will not help with that,鈥� said Sebastien Martin, one of the MIT researchers involved in developing the solution for the Boston district. He should know.
His research team鈥檚 model was unanimously approved by the Boston School Committee鈥攁 move that would have brought the first change to school start times there in three decades. But the plan was later scrapped after protests from some families.
3. Allow sufficient time between identification of a solution and implementation
Between 2000 and 2010, Wahlstrom communicated with more than 400 superintendents and principals seeking information and guidance on the impact that moving start times later might have on transportation and other relevant concerns. She said that, among the hundreds of schools that eventually adopted later start times, only two reverted back to their original ones.
In both cases, it was because they had made the decision too fast, Wahlstrom said. For instance, in a district where the superintendent and board decided in June for an August change, that didn鈥檛 give parents enough time to adjust work schedules and other changes to their routines. 鈥淧arents stormed the board,鈥� Wahlstrom said.
4. Examine the challenges in different ways
Sometimes the answer to an existing problem can be found by examining it in a new way. This logic can apply to transportation issues.
鈥淎s opposed to trying to retrofit the new schedule into the pre-existing one, they [school officials] should be thinking of starting from scratch,鈥� Payne said. 鈥淚鈥檝e seen outside consultants help by bringing novel ideas to the table that maybe haven鈥檛 been considered, because we as humans do get stuck.鈥�
This could take a variety of forms, from 鈥渇lipping鈥� the start times of a district鈥檚 younger and older students, whereby younger students start earlier and older kids start later, to more complex solutions involving sophisticated computer-generated algorithms that reconfigure bus routes and start times.
鈥淭he real challenge,鈥� Payne said, 鈥渋s that it鈥檚 different than what we鈥檙e used to doing.鈥�
