Scott Williams, swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
Parents and others in the Shawano School District split sharply Monday on a move to adjust school start times so that older students can get more sleep in the morning.
An ad hoc group presented the proposal at a School Board meeting and was immediately faced with a sometimes-emotional divide within the community.
Critics questioned the science and practicality of juggling start times, while supporters applauded the potential for improving student health and academic performance.
The proposal calls for postponing the start time for students at Shawano Community High School and Shawano Community Middle School by at least one hour, while elementary students could face earlier start times so that buses drop them off first before picking up the older students.
The current schedule is the reverse, with older students arriving first and elementary students starting later.
The ad hoc group recommended adjustments so that middle and high school students could sleep longer in the morning, which the group argued could improve academic performance and also combat secondary issues among teenagers such as depression and obesity.
Mindy Frimodig, a member of the task force, presented research showing that an extra hour of sleep every morning for teens can sometimes turn a “D” student into an “A” student.
“It does make a difference,” Frimodig said. “It makes a huge difference.”
Members of the School Board are scheduled to decide the issue later this month, possibly imposing changes that would take effect with the new school year this fall.
About 50 people turned out Monday to hear the recommendations and to offer feedback.
Some argued that adjusting school start times would create too much disruption, and urged the district to maintain the schedule in its current form.
“It’s fine,” parent Joyel Fruehauf said. “Leave well enough alone.”
Others applauded the proposal to delay high school and middle school, saying that teenagers need morning sleep time more than younger kids, and that parents should be willing to accept some inconvenience.
“The benefits far outweigh the obstacles,” parent Matt Hendricks said.
School administrators are studying new schedule options amid a growing national debate about whether teenagers are suffering in their education and their health because of school days starting too early. The American Academy of Pediatrics last year urged later start times at high schools and middle schools.
To consider the matter locally, Shawano school administrators impaneled an ad hoc group that included health care experts, parents, educators and others.
The current school schedule in Shawano has middle and high students starting their day about 7:30 a.m. and elementary students starting about 8:15 a.m.
A non-binding survey presented to parents and students asked them to rank three new schedule options. The survey results were later called into question, largely because the survey did not give respondents the option of choosing to maintain the status quo, which many favored.
The ad hoc group ended up deviating from the survey choices and instead supported rearranging schedules so that elementary students would start their day around 8 a.m. and middle and high school students would start around 8:50 a.m. The presentation Monday was slightly different, calling for an elementary start time of between 7:45 and 8:15 and a start time for older students no earlier than 8:30 a.m.
School Board members assured those in attendance Monday that they would give careful consideration to the issue before convening later this month and trying to make a decision.
“We need to do the best for all the kids,” board member Derek Johnson said. “But we also need to address all the concerns.”