Meeting Dec. 8 to Discuss Changing School Start Time
Dearborn school officials are asking for input from parents, students, staff and community members to determine whether to change the high school start time from the current 7:20 a.m. to a later time.
We wrote about this very topic back in September. Now a public meeting is being held on Dec. 8 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. to gather additional input to determine whether 7:20 a.m. is too early to begin classes for high school students. We think it is and so have many school districts across the country that now begin classes at least an hour later. The meeting will be held at the Administrative Service Center, 18700 Audette.
Results from an online survey conducted earlier this fall revealed that 60 percent were in favor of some type of change in the school start time. The survey was conducted to determine whether a later high school start time was a topic of interest in the community.
Any change in the start of high school would impact the start of middle and elementary school grades, as well. So it is important for parents with a child in the school system to take part in this discussion.
November 20th, 2009 at 7:39 am
I agree. Way too early for students to begin starting school. I have two children in high school and they get up at 630am for school. Homework usually runs until at least 10 and 11 pm. Getting at least an hour more sleep would be a bonus.
November 20th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
As usual our Dearborn schools are followers, instead of innovators. Start school later so the students can get a little more sleep.
November 20th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
But that means that everyone would start school an hour later for everyone … 4:30 is way to late for my elementary kids to get out of school. As it is, there is barely enough time for my kids to have a bit of outside time after sitting at a desk most of the day, dinnertime, family time, homework, and baths — not to mention after school activities like sports and dance … all that needs to be done by their 8pm bedtime … even getting out of school at 3:35, we barely fit that all in before bed!
As for the high schoolers … what about their after school jobs, clubs, community involvement, and homework — they will have less time in the evening for those things … all things that need to go on a college application … when will they have time for those things?
November 20th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Maybe my husband’s boss should be more understanding of his biological clock … he’s not a morning person, maybe his business should change their hours to accomodate his body clock. Hey teens, welcome to the real world, if you are tired you are still expected to do your job … their job is school! How will they ever learn to function in the real world if we always bend the world to make them comfortable?
A friend of mine has teens in a district that tried the late start for high schoolers. They went back to the traditional start times … they said that kids lost afterschool jobs that they’d had for years and parents complained that after school there was so little time for all the high school activities that they never saw their kids. But they also cited neighorhood problems … teens started staying out later, instead of getting extra sleep, they increased the rate of juvenile crime. For the record, my friend with 2 teenagers was very happy to see the traditional schedule come back.
November 20th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Turn off the cell phones, X-Boxes, TV’s, ipods and take away the car keys and your kids will be able to get their spoiled asses out of bed AND do their homework. What are you going to do after they graduate from high school? Change the start time of the classes they need in college because they can’t learn well enough without more sleep? Tell their potential employers that they need to change the schedules around? What a load of crap. We’re all going to be speaking Chinese in another two generations if you keep insisting on shaping the world to your kids instead of the other way around.
November 21st, 2009 at 7:35 am
Happy Here and Stop Already – if there was a prize to be given out for the best answers I would give it to you two. Your are right on with your comments.
November 21st, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Ken-
Where do your kids go to school? My son is a freshmen at DHS and he has had a total of 2 hours of homework so far this year.
I disagree with you about start times, I think it changes too many other schedules as have been discussed-jobs, sports, elementary kids having to walk home practically in the dark, etc.
November 21st, 2009 at 9:07 pm
How about we set the start time for DPS Administrators at 3:30 pm and their end time at 4:00 pm. You would be surprised at how much money would be saved, how better the kids would learn and how more efficiently the district was being run.
November 21st, 2009 at 9:22 pm
It’s biological, it has been proven…teenagers do not function well having to be up and at school before the sun comes up, google it, it is there. My freshman year at EF we started at 8:20 the next year, it was changed to 7:30, it was a nightmare and that was 20+ years ago. College classes are not a good arguing point because if you don’t want to go until 2 in the afternoon, you don’t schedule an 8 a.m. class. And since when are teenagers living in the real world Happy? Comparing an adult who has a job to sustain everyday life and doesn’t want to keep up to go to work is nothing like a teen not wanting to get up to go to school.
November 22nd, 2009 at 7:33 pm
Sure, BMW … and when we all grow up, we are suddenly morning people who love our jobs and are lives and have great motivation!
The lies we tell our teens … we let them think that they’ll get to be whatever they want to be, get paid well for it, love going to their job everyday, and be fulfilled and happy in every aspect of their lives.
The truth … most adults don’t love their jobs (it’s called work for a reason and nowadays, we’re just grateful to have a job), they didn’t end up being what they wanted to be when they grew up, those that did get to be what they wanted to be discovered that it wasn’t quite what they hoped for, and life isn’t fair and no one operates the world according to your body clock!
No one told me the lies and I’m glad … it would’ve been awfully disappointing to realize that life isn’t all roses and sunshine after everyone told me it could be that way!
November 22nd, 2009 at 9:59 pm
When I was at Dearborn High we started at 7:30 and I was up every day by 6am. Now after 4 years of college and a semester into grad school, I can still say that I haven’t been up that early since my DHS days! College classes do NOT start that early (most are at 9 or 10-at the earliest), so if high school got me ready for the “real world” then college and grad school took me right back out of it!
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:04 am
Jessica, I don’t mean to imply that getting up early is something that everyone does and that learning to get up early is preparation for future schedules … I simply meant that the real world doesn’t accomodate your biological clock and or anything else about your personal life. Also, college life is NOTHING like real life! College is about as far from the real world as it gets!
However, I agree, it’s not ideal for anyone to have to start their day at 7:30 … but no one has been able to present a way that high school students could start later without disrupting the schedules of elementary school students and many other people! Additionally, I believe that the clubs, sports, and afterschool jobs that high school students do in the hours after school are just as valuable learning experiences as the things that they learn at school and should not be jeopardized!
However, all that being said … if someone can provide a reasonable plan to allow teenagers to still participate in afterschool activites … elementary students to get home at a reasonable time (anything after 4pm is completely unacceptable) … I’m open to hearing it!