Sequoia Principal Says Later Start Time Is Best

Sequoia High School Principal Bonnie Hansen at last night’s district board of trustees meeting advocated pushing back the school’s start time from 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. in light of research that shows teens need more sleep to perform better.

After polling students, staff and parents about which proposal they preferred, Hansen the two proposals to the Board. The administration’s research indicated that nearly three quarters of the staff favored starting a regular six-class day at 8:30 and getting out at 2:40 p.m.

That suggestion also featured overwhelming support of the school’s site council, the Sequoia Leadership Team and administration.

“The feeling of most stakeholders was that this was good for all kids,” said Hansen.

The other proposed alternative would include starting the school’s extra seventh period at 8, and then allowing the students with a regular schedule to begin at 9. This alternative was favored by 57% of the school’s parents, Hansen said.

The proposal to change the school’s bell schedule was prompted by study’s that show teens need at least nine hours of sleep to function properly, and that the start time of 8 a.m. didn’t normally allow for that once transportation time was factored into a student’s day, said Superintendent James Lianides.

However, other factors to consider were the increase in traffic due to the later start time, Lianides said. Parents might have to take their students to school at the regular time regardless in order to get to work on time.

Two of the district’s other high schools, Woodside and Menlo-Atherton, have already adopted late start schedules. Sequoia and Carlmont presented schedule changes to be discussed last night, but neither were adopted.

Hansen quipped that students favored a proposal that would allow them to arrive at school later, and leave earlier.

Once the preferred schedule is adopted, it will likely go into effect next fall, according to a district report.

Hansen said poll results illustrated a reluctance toward the proposal which flipped the seventh period to the current start time and allowed students with a regular schedule to show up an hour later.

Students who typically take seven-class days are in remedial programs, she said, and are, at times, the ones who most need the extra sleep time.

Those in favor of bumping back all classes to 8:30 found it to be more fair, since every student would be getting the same late start.

But under the preferred proposal, athletes who have leave school early due to away games will miss more class. Hansen said it will be easier though for those classes to be made up, since if there is an equal late start, the students will be back in the class they missed the next day.

Hansen said that one of the factors in favor of flipping the seventh period was that those who have a seventh class would begin at the same time, which is good because people resist change.

But under that proposal, students from East Palo Alto or Fair Oaks who need to take remediation classes will need to get on early buses to get to school on time, which some parents have voiced concern about, said Hansen.

The school began researching start time alternatives last year, said Hansen. The Board will continue the discussion at the Feb. 16 meeting and will likely adopt a proposal before March, according to district documents.