Internal body clock changes combined with a desire to stay up late to socialize and then having to wake up early for class are causing a sleep deficit in teens that can lead to health problems, according to Loyola University Maryland psychology professor Amy Wolfson.
“Together, they create this perfect storm where adolescents are getting less and less sleep,” Wolfson said Thursday night during a town hall hosted by the Montgomery County Council of PTAs (MCCPTA) on the importance of later school start times so teens can get more sleep. About 100 students, parents and community members attended the online session.
Wolfson was one of several experts who spoke of the risks teens face from not getting enough sleep. Only 22.5% of Maryland high school students and 49.5% of middle school students obtained eight or more hours of sleep, according to the Maryland 2022-2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey – even though students aged 13 to 17 need eight to 10 hours of sleep.
The town hall comes on the heels of the countywide PTA organization’s passage in February of a resolution advocating for Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) to push back middle and high school start times to be no earlier than 8:30 a.m. The resolution is reviving a perennial issue for MCPS — a push to start classes later to benefit older students’ health.
Currently, MCPS high schools start at 7:45 a.m. and middle schools start at 8:15 a.m. Elementary schools start 9 a.m. or 9:25 a.m. depending on the school.
Wolfson said the consequences of that “perfect storm” that results in a sleep deficit include daytime sleepiness, learning and attention difficulties, mood instability, impulsiveness, substance use and the occurrence of car accidents. The benefits of changing start times “are enormous,” she said. When school start times are delayed, adolescents generally don’t stay up later, Wolfson said.
“One study demonstrated four times fewer tardies with later school start times, increased attendance, which is a huge issue now, locally and around the country, [and] reduced dropout rates,” Wolfson said.
Lisa VanBuskirk, leader of the Maryland chapter of the nonprofit Start School Later, noted that in the 2022-2023 school year, Anne Arundel County delayed start times so elementary schools start at 8 a.m., high schools at 8:30 a.m. and middle schools at 9:15 a.m.
VanBuskirk said the later start times improved attendance and chronic absentee rates.
Speakers also noted that state lawmakers are considering legislation on school start times. Legislation introduced during this year’s Maryland General Assembly session would require public schools statewide to begin no earlier than 8 a.m. for middle school and 8:30 a.m. for high school.
The Montgomery County school board opposes the bill, according to a Feb. 20 school board meeting, citing concerns over maintaining local autonomy.
In a February statement to Bethesda Today, MCPS spokesperson Liliana López said MCPS valued MCCPTA engagement, but wasn’t currently considering changing school start times “due to complexities of transportation schedules, extracurricular activities and the scale of the system.”
School board president Julie Yang also said in February the board hasn’t discussed changing start times. The research surrounding sleep and student performance was “spot on,” Yang said, but noted the issue was complex.
Sandra Landis, the Montgomery County chapter leader of the advocacy group Start School Later and chair of a start time subcommittee for MCCPTA, said MCCPTA was working to find a solution that involved wide input from the community.
“I think there’s a certain fear in the community that MCPS will come in and impose a schedule that nobody likes,” Landis said. “It’s not our intent at all to have something rammed down people’s throats. … We all want to do better than we’re doing now, and we’ve definitely got room to do that.”
