FALLS CHURCH, Va. — It seems certain high school students in Fairfax County will catch a few more ZZZs on weekdays starting next school year.
After more than 10 years of debate, the Fairfax County School Board has pushed forward with a plan to start high school classes later next year, moving the start time — which is 7:20 a.m. this year — to 8 a.m. for some high schools and as late as 8:10 a.m. for others.
Elementary school start times won’t change. Fairfax County elementary schools start between 8 a.m. and 9:20 a.m. However, to accommodate the later start time for high school students, middle schools would begin classes at 7:30 a.m. next school year, 15 minutes earlier than this year.
“I think it’s a definite improvement for our high school students. I still think we need to continue to work on our middle school start times, to get them around 7:45,” says Karen Garza, Fairfax County school superintendent.
At a working session of the Fairfax County School Board, it was apparent most school board members are in favor of the later high school start time, which will face a final vote Oct. 23.
In supporting the change, many of the board members pointed to the results of a study by the Children’s National Medical Center Division of Sleep Medicine. The study concludes that the mental and physical health of students would improve and so would their academic performance if classes began later in the morning.
“I think this is the best move we can be making as a school system. I’m excited that we finally, after over 10 years of trying to solve a very real problem in our public schools, for a very nominal amount of money, we are going to really make a difference in our children’s lives,” says Megan McLaughlin, a school board member representing the Braddock district.
The change will cost nearly $5 million to operate additional buses and it wasn’t without initial opposition.
“School boards have more things to consider than just the pure science. All of the focus on the science tends to obscure some of the costs and other trade- offs,” says Ted Velkoff, vice chairman of the Fairfax County School Board.
But even Velkoff is likely to vote in favor of the later start time. “I see that there’s a willingness on all parts of the community to find a reasonable compromise around the 8 o’clock start time,” Velkoff says.
Most members insist the cost is worth it and the kids will benefit.
“I know first-hand as a parent, what I’ve seen. They will be far more alert and ready to start their school day, excited, willing to pay attention, they’ll have that energy,” says McLaughlin.
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