Research shows North Olmsted schools should move start times later, not earlier.

On the day before I was scheduled to present at the All-Ohio Institute on Community Psychiatry 11th annual conference in Beachwood I got an email from a parent highly concerned that North Olmstead schools were considering a recommendation to move the high school start time from 7:45 am to 7:20 am, and the middle school start time from 7:38 am to 7:23 am.   On March 3rd I sent the following email to school leadership.  I have been informed by parents that the board intends to vote on this matter on March 20th, and it is my hope that school officials act in the best interest of the students.

"Mr. Krivak and North Olmsted School Board Members,

I am writing on behalf of a large group of NE Ohio professionals who are familiar  with the clinical research on adolescent sleep and encourage you to not only reject the proposal to start middle and high schools earlier, but consider moving start times to after 8:30 am in accordance with national recommendations. It is now well-recognized that puberty marks a later shift in circadian rhythm, making it biochemically difficult if not impossible for pubertal youth to fall asleep early enough to accommodate an early wake time.  This collision between mother nature and alarm clocks results in chronic sleep deprivation among 91.8% of adolescents with early school start times.  (Bergin and Bergin, 2009; Carskadon, 1993; Crowley, Acebo and Carskadon, 2007; O'Brien, 2005; Wahlstrom, 2003 and others.)

We understand that the stated reason to move North Olmsted times earlier is to allow for student/teacher conferencing after school, and that the issue of driving safety has been discussed.  Research strongly suggests that your current start times, and especially moving middle and high school to even earlier, compromises North Olmsted student safety and academics.  Among other concerns such as obesity and changes in insulin resistance, chronic sleep deprivation is associated with poorer grades, lower standardized tests scores, behavioral problems, risk-taking, higher rates of substance abuse, auto accidents, and increased sports injuries (Bates et al , 2002; Danner and Philips 2008; Gibson et al 2006; Kahn et al, 1989; Kilgore et al 2007; O'Brien, 2005; Must and Parisi, 2009; Taheri et al, 2004; Wolfson et al, 2007; and more). 

If finances are a concern we would encourage you to read the 2011 Brookings Institution Hamilton Project Report: "Organizing Schools to Improve Student Achievement."  In this report the authors, who are economists, project a 'conservative' 9 to 1 benefit to cost ratio in moving high school start times to later in the morning - even if transportation costs, for example, are doubled.  This report is readily available online in pdf format with a simple search of the report title.

In 1993 the Minnesota Medical Association issued a resolution to educate the public on this pubertal shift and the need to 'eliminate early school start times.'  Since then numerous entities have issued statements regarding support of later start times for adolescents, including the Centers for Disease Control, the National Sleep Foundation, and Brown University.  Duke University bans courses before 8:30 am due to the research.  Just last week the Virginia state chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement supporting later start times for teens. 

In NE Ohio a large group of psychologists, social workers, physicians, law enforcement officers, and public health officials are encouraging schools to examine the clinical data.  Once the research is understood communities support the data, to the tune of hundreds of schools around the country who have already acted to the direct and measurable benefit of their students, and more school boards around the nation have voted to make changes for the next school year.  In Ohio you simply need to look to Parma, Hudson and Duxbury to see schools who have acted to improve the health, education, and safety of their students.

If it helps for me to introduce myself, I am the Director of the NE Ohio chapter of the non-profit Start School Later.  I provide counseling to children, adolescents and adults at a private practice and I have presented on this topic as a Distinguished Guest Lecturer at Case Western Reserve University's MSASS Alumni Affairs Spring Lecture Series, at the NASW National Convention in DC, across the state for the OCWTP, for various local groups including the Stark County School Counselors Association and the Summit County Court-Appointed Special Advocates, and just this weekend I presented at the All-Ohio Institute on Community Psychiatry 11th Annual Conference in Beachwood.

I am widely familiar with the research, plus I have reached out to schools that have adjusted start times in order to obtain anecdotal input 'from the front lines' - including from Athletics Directors and, if schools chose the option of 'flip-flopping' elementary with high school, from elementary principals.  If you would like further information please feel free to contact me.  The website of Start School Later.net also provides a good compilation of the scholarly research.

Sincerely,

Stacy Simera, MSSA, LISW-S, SAP"

Note: for parents and school officials who say "but my kids seems to be doing just fine getting up at 6am every day" - I would encourage them to look at data from Edina, Minnesota in which the students in the top 10% of the class, the same students who people doubted could do any better, achieved SAT scores an average of 56 points higher in math and 156 higher in verbal after the high school changed from 7:25 am to 8:30 am (CAREI School Start Time Study, 1998 - 2001, University of Minnesota).

A petition that is being circulated in NE Ohio is a veritable Who's Who of local health providers, first responders, and community leaders.  You can view the signatures thus far at SignOn.org and search 'Northeast Ohio' or via this link: http://signon.org/sign/start-portage-county.fb23?source=s.icn.fb&r_by=6059954