Dear Editor,
The Brandon School District is on the verge of making numerous changes at the Elementary level (K-6). I am excited and eager to participate in the discussions surrounding these changes. I am a parent of students who will be affected directly as they will attend the intermediate school and Belle Ann Elementary next year. I applaud the district’s administrators for beginning to ‘roll out? these changes well in advance of the start of the next school year. This is allowing for appropriate planning by families and the opportunity for input and dialogue between the administration and families.
It is being proposed that the Intermediate School change their start time from 8:40am to 7:15am. I am not opposed to an earlier start time; however, I strongly feel that 7:15am is too early for ANY students to begin their school day. The reason I am not opposed to considering an earlier start time for elementary students (K – 6) is largely because of research that impacts secondary students (7 -12 graders).
The areas I am strongly encouraging the administrators to give further consideration of are: the proposed earlier start time for the Intermediate School, the district’s elementary school transportation policy, and bell times for secondary schools. I believe these issues are closely linked, although, the roots of the ideas may have emerged independently.
Most elementary age students go to sleep earlier and wake earlier than adolescents. According to a 1997 paper from the National Institute of Health, adolescents require 9.2 hours of sleep per night. There is clear research that adolescents need more sleep than they currently get and the main reason they do not get enough sleep is because their schools start too early in the morning. Adolescents are not going to bed late because of rebelliousness or having a hard time waking up because they are lazy. This pattern is a result of an adolescent’s Circadian Rhythm. This means that when a child hits puberty their sleep cycle shifts. Melatonin, which is the hormone that induces sleep, is not secreted in an adolescent until approximately 11 p.m. The hormone continues to be secreted until approximately 8 a.m. This means it is going against an adolescent’s sleep cycle for them to get to sleep earlier than when melatonin is secreted. In addition, the research states that the most important part of the sleep cycle (REM) does not occur until the end of the cycle. As a result, adolescents are waking before they even benefit from the most important part of the sleep cycle. Inadequate sleep for adolescents is linked to: depression, anxiety, irritability, impairment of the immune system, alcohol and caffeine abuse, poor judgment, rebelliousness, risky behavior, lack of control, trouble with relationships, lower academic performance, decreased athletic performance and more injuries, and car crashes due to drowsy driving. This research is so strong that in 2002, the US Navy changed sleep times for recruits (average ages 17 to 19) to correlate with an adolescent’s sleep cycle. The Navy found the recruits actually slept more each night and showed statistically significant improvement on standardized test scores.
Because of this research, several districts around the country have changed middle school and high school start times to later in the morning. Districts have often accomplished this by flipping start times between elementary schools (K-6) and secondary schools (7-12). After the ‘flip?, these districts? average start times for elementary schools is approximately 8 a.m., and 8:30 a.m for secondary schools. Typically, the main barrier to this ‘flip? is concern regarding after-school activities for secondary students. Although this takes consideration and teamwork among the community and district it absolutely can be accomplished as several districts in the country have shown. Some of the benefits of secondary students having a later start time are: improved attendance, less tardiness, completing more homework during school hours as a result of being more alert and efficient during the day, more alert students in class, improvement in school behavior with a calmer atmosphere in the hallways and cafeteria, fewer discipline referrals to the principal, fewer students seeking stress relief due to academic pressures, fewer students coming to counselors with peer relationship problems and difficulties with parents, fewer trips to the school nurse, gaining more sleep at night (students do not stay up later because they are starting school later), and eating breakfast more frequently.
I would like to challenge the Brandon School District to look at altering school start times for all of the district’s schools to follow the significant research regarding adolescent sleep cycles and benefits to later start times for secondary students. I believe a major barrier to affecting this change is the District’s transportation policy regarding elementary schools.
It is currently the District’s policy to provide transportation for all elementary students in the district even if they choose not to attend their assigned school. For example, if a student’s assigned school is Belle Ann Elementary but chooses to attend HT Burt the district provides busing for that student. The Brandon School District is very unique in that two out of three elementary buildings are at the same location (the HT Burt/ Harvey Swanson complex). I believe it is because of this unique quality that this system has been able to work. Also, because the Intermediate School is very close in proximity to the elementary buildings it has worked for those students to be a part of the elementary school bus run. However, the 2009-1010 school year will bring the opening of the new Oakwood Elementary School and HT Burt will no longer be an elementary school. Oakwood Elementary is located approximately four miles from the HT Burt/ Harvey Swanson complex according to administrators. Administrators state that, by staggering start times, the length of time for the bus runs will not change. It is difficult to believe that, in practice, the bus runs will not be longer than they currently are. At the meeting held on March 10, 2009, the District’s administration stated that the current policy of transporting students who choose not to attend their assigned school will end in the future. It is simply a question of when it will end. According to the administration, the termination of this policy will be determined by finances and/or 4 years after the policy begins. The administration should make a decision to end this policy immediately. By doing so, families will be able to make decisions that they believe are best for their families knowing exactly what the future is regarding transportation policies. Otherwise a family who chooses to attend a school, other than their assigned school, will wonder repeatedly when transportation will no longer be provided for them. The other benefits appear to be: shorter bus runs, student’s time not being wasted while waiting for 15 to 25 minutes picking up/dropping off other students at other buildings, savings on gas, and more flexibility when examining school start times.

It is my hope that options will be evaluated and many bell times considered for ALL of the schools in the Brandon District. However, options are lost if we do not first change the current elementary transportation policy.
times for all of the district’s schools to follow the significant research regarding adolescent sleep cycles and benefits to later start times for secondary students. I believe a major barrier to affecting this change is the district’s transportation policy regarding elementary schools.
It is currently the district’s policy to provide transportation for all elementary students in the district even if they choose not to attend their assigned school. For example, if a student’s assigned school is Belle Ann Elementary but chooses to attend HT Burt, the district provides busing for that student. The Brandon School District is very unique in that two out of three elementary buildings are at the same location (the HT Burt/ Harvey Swanson complex). I believe it is because of this unique quality that this system has been able to work. Also, because the Intermediate School is very close in proximity to the elementary buildings it has worked for those students to be a part of the elementary school bus run. However, the 2009-1010 school year will bring the opening of the new Oakwood Elementary School and HT Burt will no longer be an elementary school. Oakwood Elementary is located approximately four miles from the HT Burt/ Harvey Swanson complex according to administrators. Administrators state that, by staggering start times, the length of time for the bus runs will not change. It is difficult to believe that, in practice, the bus runs will not be longer than they currently are. At the meeting held on March 10, 2009, the district’s administration stated that the current policy of transporting students who choose not to attend their assigned school will end in the future. It is simply a question of when it will end. According to the administration, the termination of this policy will be determined by finances and/or 4 years after the policy begins. The administration should make a decision to end this policy immediately. By doing so, families will be able to make decisions that they believe are best for their families knowing exactly what the future is regarding transportation policies. Otherwise a family who chooses to attend a school, other than their assigned school, will wonder repeatedly when transportation will no longer be provided for them. The other benefits appear to be: shorter bus runs, student’s time not being wasted while waiting for 15 to 25 minutes picking up/dropping off other students at other buildings, savings on gas, and more flexibility when examining school start times.
It is my hope that options will be evaluated and many bell times considered for ALL of the schools in the Brandon District. However, options are lost if we do not first change the current elementary transportation policy.
Keri Hickmott,
Brandon Township