Later School Start Times To Be Discussed In Hillsborough

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — The topic of school start times continues to circulate throughout the state including in Hillsborough where several parents advocated for students at last week's Board of Education(BOE) meeting.

"By allowing our students to get more sleep we can help them to be more alert, focused, and engaged in the classroom which can lead to better grades, better attendance, and improvement in mental health. I urge you to consider this evidence and prioritize the health and well-being of our kids," said Adriana Shapiro, a mother of two middle schoolers, at the Feb. 27 BOE meeting.

Mother of two and former psychiatric nurse Anna Cheung also spoke in support of healthier school hours. She listed six benefits of having a later school start time based on scientific evidence she gathered including:

• Higher test scores
• Lower risk of irritability, depression, anxiety, and suicide
• Reduce substance use and risk-taking behaviors
• Fewer sports injuries
• Lower rate of car accidents
• Increased attendance and decreased tardiness

"Every hour of lost sleep is associated with a 38 percent increase in feeling hopeless and 58 percent of teen suicide attempts," said Cheung.

"Make healthier school hours a priority," Cheung concluded.

Board member Joel Davis asked is the BOE should make a committee to research later school hours. However, Board member Jean Trujillo said the topic was already being discussed in the operations committee and was set to be back on the agenda in March.

"I think this is a good time to really tackle it and see what the implications are. I think that if there is Board support for it we can move quickly on this," said Trujillo.

Superintendent Michael Volpe warned that the process may not be quick and instead take some time.

"I don't want to raise expectations that I can just snap my fingers and get it done. I think all of the Board members need to weigh in and talk about the process and way to do this," said Volpe.

Volpe also told Patch that he has scheduled Dr. Bert Mandelbaum, a pediatric doctor at Princeton Nassau Pediatrics, to come to speak at an upcoming BOE meeting in April during the public session.

Board member Benjamin Kidd noted that as a former alumni he experience firsthand the "downsides of early start times."

Kidd added that if it is possible to have later start times he would be in favor of it.

The later school start times discussion began around 2013 when the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that teenagers in particular should start school later to ensure they get enough sleep.

This prompted some school districts such as Princeton to push back start times for the 2018-19 school year. Read More: Princeton High School To Start Day Later Next Year

In 2022, some legislators began to push a new bill that would move high school start times to no earlier than 8:30 a.m.

The new bill (A3816), sponsored by Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex) and Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Monmouth), had initially been proposed to go into effect at the start of the 2024-25 school year. The legislation would not impact elementary and middle school students. Read More: NJ High Schools Could Start At 8:30 A.M. If This New Bill Passes

However, the state mandate of school start times was not favored in New Jersey. The New Jersey School Boards Association said school start times are a matter best left to local school boards in response to community needs. Read More: State Mandate Of School Start Times Not Favored In New Jersey

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