Should Boston High Schools Start Later?

BOSTON, MA — For parents who have to drag their high schooler out of bed in the morning, this might be the opportunity you've been looking for.

Councilors Annissa Essaibi-George, Vice Chair of the Committee on Education, and Matt O’Malley, Member of the Committee on Education, are hosting a City Council Hearing next week examining the possibility of later high school start times in Boston Public Schools.

According to an explanation of the meeting distributed by Essaibi-George's office, "Insufficient sleep is unhealthy and dangerous for adolescents. Research shows it causes low grades, obesity, depression, suicidal thoughts, and car crashes. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep for adolescents in order to be mentally, physically, and emotionally well-rested. Boston Public High Schools start times range from 7:20 am to 9:30 am, with 15 of 33 Boston Public High Schools starting before 7:30 a.m."

The councilors will take testimony from the public on whether or not those 15 schools should bump their start-times forward, in addition to formal testimony from the Center for Pediatric Sleep Disorders at Boston Children’s Hospital, the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, the Chief of Schools for Boston Public Schools, the Boston Student Advisory Committee Working Group and the Massachusetts Chapter of Start School Later, Inc.

The meeting is 3 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 17, at City Hall in the Boston City Council Chambers, fifth floor.

Photo by mrehan, Flickr/Creative Commons