One local school district superintendent claims “tremendous benefits” after starting school later. Should other Hudson Valley school districts do the same?

In August of 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a policy statement that recommended middle and high schools delay the start of class to 8:30 a.m. or later.

“Chronic sleep loss in children and adolescents is one of the most common, and easily fixable, public health issues in the U.S. today,” said pediatrician Judith Owens, MD, FAAP, lead author of the policy statement.

A recent National Sleep Foundation poll found 59% middle school students and 87% of high schoolers in the United Sates were getting less than the recommended 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep on school nights.

This September, following a survey of students and parents, the Dobbs Ferry School District decided to push the start and end of each school day back 45 minutes at their middle and high schools.

"It was clear from both the parents and the kids, overwhelmingly, that the mornings were just less stressful,” Dobbs Ferry superintendent Lisa Brady told Science Alert Business Insider.

Students are reporting they have more time to get ready for school and eat breakfast. Parents claim they are having less trouble getting their kids out of bed and ready for school.

When students arrive at school they feel more alert than in previous years, reports Business Insider. At night the kids say they are going to bed around the same time as the past.

“Research shows that adolescents need different amounts of sleep at different points in their development, Ashley Di Salvo, a middle school teacher in the Hudson Valley, told Hudson Valley Post. “I find 8:30 a.m. to be a good start time, as (the students) are mostly wide awake by the end of homeroom.”

Not all school districts have found later start times to be successful.

“The high school tried this a couple of years ago,"  Kellie Davis, a former teacher in Newburgh, said. "From my understanding many students didn't like it since it affected sports and after school jobs. Many teachers didn't like it, since they were then stuck with the difficult decision of staying even later after school for clubs or homework help, or getting home to their own family or kids at a decent hour.”

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