Framingham Proposes Late Start For High School Students; Should Grafton?

By Susan Petroni (Patch staff)

Framingham is looking for Massachusetts to change the start time of high schools across the Commonwealth.

The Framingham School Committee voted to submit a resolution to the Massachusetts Association of School Committee (MASC) to “ensure that high school students throughout the Commonwealth begin their academic day at 8:30 a.m. or later in order to provide the opportunity for sufficient sleep.”

Proposed by the Framingham Standing Committee on Education, and voted on by the Framingham School Committee, the resolution now goes to the Resolution Committee of the MASC, who will then decide if the resolution will go before the entire MASC delegation at its annual meeting in November in Hyannis.

In August 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended middle and high school students start class no earlier than 8:30 a.m. to allow students to get healthy sleep.

Framingham High currently starts classes at 7:33 a.m. but students are expected to be in homeroom at 7:25 a.m. Some buses pick up Framingham High students as early as 6:30 a.m.

Framingham School Committee member Jim Stockless said at a meeting the need for a state-wide change is needed as it would cause havoc with sports schedules and other extra-curricular activities if some district moved to a later start and some did not.

A later start date for high school students would be more effective as “as a statewide shift it should be enacted to begin simultaneously throughout the Commonwealth,” states the resolution.

“I believe that starting school at a later time is absolutely essential in reducing stress for the students of this state,” said Framingham High 2016 Class President Jake Binnall, who is also a student representative to the Framingham School Committee.

“I have experienced the stress first-hand of what starting school at an unreasonably early time causes. A later start time allows students to get their recommended sleep time, and not attend school exhausted. Personally, I believe 8:30 a.m. is just a start to a long term solution, but it is a great step towards protecting our students,” said Binnall.

U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan agrees. He has said it makes sense to “let teens sleep more, start school later.”

The U.S, Centers for Disease Control and the American Medical Association have highlighted insufficient sleep as a serious health risk and a public health issue.

And insufficient sleep is associated with obesity, immune system disruption, depression and over-consumption of caffeinated drinks.

“Every school and district should be enacting policies based on providing students the highest possible chances for success, but individual towns have found that a unilateral change would be problematic because of extra-curricular scheduling. Decisions should be based on proven science whenever possible and the benefits of later start times for adolescents has been clearly demonstrated,” states the resolution.

The Framingham School Committee voted 5-0-2 in favor the of the resolution in June.

In regards to elementary and middle school start times in Framingham, the early discussion was for those students to start earlier and high school students to start later.

It is likely, the Framingham School Committee would revisit this issue post the MASC conference vote in November.

Are you in favor of this for Grafton schools? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.