For Whom the School Bell Tolls - school schedules tailored to students' sleep needs

School Administrator, March, 1999 by Millicent Lawton

Helen F. Westfall, the administrative officer who acted as the Fairfax district's staff liaison to the committee, says that even though they reached no resolution, the task force members were persuaded by the sleep research. She says the group felt it needed input from the community--perhaps in the form of a survey--because the ramifications of changing the bell schedule made it "more of a broad-based issue, a life issue as well as a school issue."

A survey would be a helpful way to uncover what the community at large wants, says task force co-chair and Fairfax parent Carol Milewski. She distributed a written survey at her daughters' high school and she says 80 percent to 90 percent of the parents who completed the questionnaire wanted the school start shifted one hour later--even if the timing of after-school activities might be affected.

But without a doubt, both transportation and athletics loomed large over the task force's proceedings, says Milewski. Whether in Fairfax County or American society at large, she says, "It's always been that sports outweigh the academics." The athletic constituency at the district was only inclined to let school run 20 minutes later than it does now, she says, but the task force felt that might not provide enough sleep benefit to the older children to warrant the change in the elementary schedule.

Yet Milewski says the biggest stumbling block was the cost of bus transportation. The estimated $31 million figure to flip secondary school start times with the elementary struck the task force as a "really outlandish figure." If the transportation cost for a change of that kind could be reduced, she says, "We would probably be moving forward with some changes."

Indeed, she says the board plans to work with its transportation department on cost estimates. Neighboring Montgomery County's proposed split schedule, by comparison, would only increase transportation costs by roughly $130,000.

A Mixed Assessment

In Minnesota, researchers are trying to track what effect the start time changes are having on students and how much of a shift is late enough to help get teens the sleep they need. Unfortunately, Kyla Wahlstrom, the associate director of the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, says good data on whether academic achievement improves must wait until there are three years worth of data--enough to show a trend.

So far, Wahlstrom's research has turned up mixed reviews among teachers, parents and students for the bell times' shift in Minneapolis. A survey of teachers found that opinion in that group split evenly between those for and against. Those who liked it said students were more alert in class and they themselves felt better prepared to teach and less sleep-deprived. The ones who didn't like it cited students having to leave the last period class of the day to fit in after-school activities. They also said fewer students were coming in for academic help after school--a phenomenon that did not emerge in suburban districts that changed their start times, Wahlstrom says.