Schools should topple the norm for better schedules, healthier kids

Say, while we’re talking about start times in the Wichita school district …

Yes, the district needs to return to the traditional shorter school day and longer school calendar. The current approach was needed for two years to solve budget problems, but it’s time to punt.

So now let’s change the focus of start times. Let’s begin a conversation about a radical shift — wipe the smartboard clean and start over:

Set elementary school days for 8 a.m. to 3:10 p.m. and middle and high schools from 9 to 4:10.

(Author ducks while awaiting reaction from high school football coaches, movie-theater managers and daycare providers.)

We have to approach this game-changer from the perspective of what’s right for our kids, not for us. They have an impact on our future, from the engineers who will move Wichita into the mid-century to the young adults who will repair our roads or fix our cars.

And if we want what’s best, a flip-flop in school times is a start. Grade schoolers’ sleep patterns are more conducive to 8 a.m. school bells. They go to bed earlier and naturally wake up earlier.

Not so for teens, who stay up later because their bodies tell them so. Also because of homework, socializing or binge-watching “Riverdale” on Netflix. (Not that I know anyone like that.)

The research is there. Studies by the American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine suggest secondary schools should start at 8:30 or later so adolescents can get enough sleep (8 1/2-9 1/2 hours) for optimal physical health, mental health and academic achievement.

Two-thirds of high school students nationally get less than seven hours of sleep, according to National Sleep Foundation research.

Several districts around the country have made the move. This is not a new idea. It can be done.

If we can get past the “Harumph, it worked for us” attitude and agree on the research, the next step is overthrowing tradition and addressing the problems that come with a change.

High school coaches want to know how it affects after-school practices. The theater manager wonders what time teenage employees will arrive for work. The daycare provider is nervous about how a new format will affect before- and after-school dropoffs.

Many parents who work and rely on an older student to watch younger siblings after school would be without that help.

There would be a financial burden on the school district. Two tiers of start times would be a change from the current three tiers. The district would have to find a way to absorb the cost of additional buses needed to move seven magnet schools from an early tier to the 9 a.m. tier. A day of busing in the district already costs $200,000.

For this to work, the district would need to look beyond its own buildings for input and support. It would have to be a community-wide initiative to start the conversation about a smarter school day for the city’s kids.

Superintendent Alicia Thompson is two months into her job but has been a district leader for many recent initiatives such as Multi-Tier System of Supports and an expansion of the AVID program that helps prepare students for college. She’s the perfect person to lead this initiative and start the conversation in the community.

There are other urgent priorities in the district, and flipping start times for elementary and secondary schools can be pushed down the priority list again and again.

But this is about the kids and what enables them to succeed, not about a decades-old system that has become entrenched in our lives while hampering older students’ success.

Sleep on it, Wichita. We can do better for our kids.

This story was originally published August 25, 2017 at 12:52 PM with the headline "Schools should topple the norm for better schedules, healthier kids."