Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

High school start time debated in Legislature

Early Bell Times

Sam Morris

Jose Castaneda yawns during his first period class at Mojave Hight School Thursday, April 3, 2014.

CARSON CITY — Two lawmakers are sponsoring bills in the Nevada Legislature that would prevent high schools from beginning before 9 a.m.

“We’re not telling school districts how to do it. But we need to do something to address the health and welfare of high school kids,” said Assemblyman Richard Carrillo, D-Las Vegas, when speaking to the Assembly Committee on Education. “We’re more worried about how it costs, but how do you put a price on child’s life? You can’t.”

Added Assemblyman Chris Edwards, R-Las Vegas, whose initiative, Assembly Bill 166, would also mandate that high school start no earlier than 9 a.m.: “There’s a part of me that’s embarrassed bringing this kind of bill forward because the school district hasn’t done it.”

Carrillo’s Assembly Bill 225 was less the restrictive choice because it requires high schools “must not be earlier than 9 a.m.” Edwards’ bill was more specific, defining the school day as “not earlier than 7:30 a.m. or later than 8:00 a.m. for elementary schools; not earlier than 8:15 a.m. or later than 8:45 a.m. for junior high schools; and not earlier than 9 a.m. or later than 9:30 a.m. for high schools.”

While the start of the school day varies among high schools in Clark County, most begin shortly after 7 a.m.

Both bills reflect a consensus among some experts that adolescents have different sleep patterns than younger children or older adults and perform better academically and in other ways if they start their day later.

According to Scientific American, “biological research shows that circadian rhythms shift during the teen years, pushing boys and girls to stay up later at night and sleep later into the morning. The phase shift, driven by a change in melatonin in the brain, begins around age 13, gets stronger by ages 15 and 16, and peaks at ages 17, 18 or 19.”

Both Carrillo and Edwards passionately responded to objections about their bills from fellow Assembly members, representatives of the Clark County and Washoe school districts and various professional education associations.

Assemblywoman Heidi Swank, D-Las Vegas, mentioned that many parents in her district work hospitality jobs at night and need their high school-age children to care for younger siblings after school. Those families also need the extra income that some high school students provide by working after-school jobs.

“There’s going to be one part of day when older kids are not available,” Edwards said in response to Swank. “I don’t have the one solution that fits every situation. We have to trust that the parents will understand what the time frames are and come up with a solution. With regards to kids working after school, I understand. But it’s also my understanding that I want to make sure when the kids get to school they have the right mindset so they can go on to vocational training or to college.”

In addition to expressing concerns about after-school activities, those testifying in opposition argued the bills would force school districts to reorganize bus schedules, which would be expensive and difficult.

Representatives from Clark County and Washoe school districts also argued that schedules should be set by school district boards, many of which had already debated the issue.

“As much as I’d like the local school boards to handle things, the fact is they haven’t,” Edwards said. “How much longer are we going to have to wait? We’ve got the future of 460,000 students counting on us to do what others have not done for them. It’s time we at least stood up and started doing things. We cannot continue to focus on mere logistics. Quite frankly, CCSD has enough high-paid administrators to figure out those logistics.”

The two bills aren’t the first time Nevada Legislature has discussed changing school start times. In the 2015 a similar bill draft was offered by Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas. But the bill went nowhere.

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