New Jersey Could Start School After 8:30 a.m.

New Jersey is considering whether to start school after 8:30 a.m., and the state Department of Education will hold hearings this week to get input.

The state will hold hearings beginning Monday, and will accept online comments until May 20 to review a plan to move start times to later.

Gov. Chris Christie and the state Legislature last year approved state Sen. Richard J. Codey's plan to study the potential benefits of later start times for middle school and high school students.

Codey has said that students may be prone to negative health consequences because of sleep deprivation.

Codey's legislation would have state education officials review recent recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics to address what it calls a :significant health issue" for adolescents.

In a release, Codey said studies are showing "that our current school start time system is flipped the wrong way."

"Research from the medical and educational community is showing it is bad for learning and can have negative consequences for the health of adolescents when school start times for teens are before 8:30 a.m.,” Codey added, “even though many of them are starting at 7:30.”

The average start time for the majority of the nation’s more than 18,000 public high schools is before 8 a.m., the review found. Early start times result in more absences and tardiness and lower test scores, multiple studies have found, Codey said.

Doctors say that teenagers need a minimum of nine hours of sleep, he said. Without it, their grades can suffer, and they are more prone to physical problems such as obesity and to mental problems such as depression, according to the pediatricians’ report.

More than 1,000 schools across the country have already pushed back start times and reviews of these districts have shown improvements in various measures, Codey said.

Here are sites for the other hearings:

• Monday, 4 to 7 p.m.; Camden County College, Blackwood Campus; Civic Hall CON 105, 200 College Drive, Blackwood, Gloucester Township
• Wednesday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, Room 1; 12 Centre Drive, Monroe Township.
• Tuesday, May 10, 4 to 7 p.m.; Franklin Williams Middle School auditorium; 222 Laidlaw Avenue, Jersey City